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TRIBUTE 



TO THE 



MEMORY 



OF 



DE VTITT CLINTON, 

Late Governor of the State of Neiv-Yoi^k. 



BEING A 
COMPREHENSIVE SKETCH OF HIS LIFE. 

TOGETHER WITH 

THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE NEW- YORK LEGISLATURE, 

AKD OF 

VARIOUS CORPORATE AND PUBLIC BODIES: 

ALSO, 

THE NOTICES OF HIS DEATH FROM THE MOST DISTIN- 
GUISHED JOURNAJLS IN THE UNITED STATES. 



i3xjt a itUi}tn oit ^(tiaup* 



ALBANY: 

PRINTED BY WEBSTER AND W009. 

1828. 



A r f 




jaforthem District of New-York, to loit) 

^vi*^^ BE IT REMEMBEtlED, lliat on the fifth day o: 

April, in the fifty-second year of the Independence of the 
United States of ADoerica, A. D. 1828, CuylerStaats,nf the 
Ir said District, hath deposited in this Office the title of a 
jfi Book the right whereof he claims as author and proprie- 
tor, in the words following, to wit . 

"Tribute to the memory of De Witt Clinton, lale governor of the 
state of New-York. Being a comprehensive sketch of his life, togeth- 
er with the proceedings of the New-York legislature, and of various 
corporate and public bodies: also, the notices of his death from the 
most distinguished journals in the United States. By a citizen of Al- 
bany." 

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled 
"An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of 
maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, 
during the times therein mentioned;" and also, to the act entitled "An 
act supplementary to an act entitled ' An act for the encouragement of 
learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the au- 
thors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mention- 
ed,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engrav- 
ing, and etching historical and other prints." 

RICHARD R. LANSING, 
Clerk of the Nerthem District of New- York. 



The sudden death of De Witt Clinton, 
iring the present sittmg of the legislature, 
d while he was wielding the destinies of a 
>werful state, whose permanent prosperity 
h£ld been his highest ambition to pro- 
mote, caused the nation to mourn. Appro- 
priate honours to his m: mory were paid by 
all classes of citizens. A profound venera- 
tion for the high character of the deceased, 
and believing that a collection of the various 
expressions of public sorrow for his death, 
would be desirable, as an interesting memo- 
rial of one, whose name is identified with 
the glory of his courUry, induced the compi- 
ler to publish this work. 

Great pains have been taken to make a 
judicious selection and arrangement of the 
various notices, and the engraving was obtain- 
ed from a plate owned by the Corporation of 
the city of New-York, by whom it was loan- 
ed expressly for this work, 
Albany, April, 1828. 



CONTENTS. 



page. 

Life of De Witt Clinton, from Delaplaine, . . 9 

Continuation of same by the Compiler, ... 25 

Announcement of his death, . . , . . 35 

Proceedings of the Legislature upon his death, . 39 

Mr. Crary's speech in the Senate on do. . . 39 

Mr. Butler's speech in the Assembly, do. . . 40 

Legislative arrangements for the Funeral, . . 46 

Bill for the relief of his minor children, . . 50 

Mr. Butler's speech on this bill, .... 50 

Mr. Livingston's speech on same, .... 58 

Mr Tallmadge's speech on same, .... 63 

Mr. EJgerton's speech on same, .... 70 

Final question on the bill, 73 

Public sentiment on the failure of the bill. 

From the New-York Gazette, .... 73 

" New-York Evening Post, . . . 74 

" Rochester Republican, .... 75 

" Utica Intelligencer, .... 76 

" Poughkeepsic Journal, . . . . 77 

" Cayuga Patriot, 77 

Buffalo Journal, ..... 78 

" Greene County Republican, ... 79 

" Boston American Traveller, . . 80 

Substitute for the bill, by General Porter, . . 80 

Final vote ,81 



VI. 



eONTENTS. 



Funeral arrangements in Albany, by the Corpo- 
ration, Circuit Court, Citizens, Bar, Union Col- 
lege, Masons, Albany Institute, Military, &c. 81 to 90 

Description of the Funeral, 90 

Public sentiment on the death of Mr. Clinton. 

From the Signs of the Times, .... 97 

" Albany Daily Advertiser, • , • • 99 

" the same, 101 

" National Observer, . . . . 102 

« Aniidote, . . . . . .103 

" New-York American, .... 104 

" New-York Daily Advertiser, . . 106 

" New-York Enquirer, .... 109 

" National Advocate, .... Ill 

*' New-York Merchant's Telegraph, . 113 

'• New-York Spectator, .... 115 

" New-York Telegraph, . . . . 116. 

" New-York Evening Post, . . . 117 

" Albion, 117 

Meeting in the city of N^w-York, . . 121 

Philip Hone's speech, 121 

Elbert Herring's speech, . . . . . 124 

New-York State Society .of the Cincinnati, . 127 

Order of the British Consukj^te, -^ • • • 128 

" ■ Russian " 128 

New-York Daily Advertiser, . . . . . 128 

Clinton Hall Association, New- York, 131 

New-York Bar, 132 

Mr. Griffin's speech, 134 

New-York Historical Society, Medical and Public 

School Societies, Chamber of Commerce, 135 to 140 

Common Council of New-York, .... 140 



A 



COxNTENTS. 



VIL 



Dr. Milnor's sernioiij 

College of Physicians and Surgeons, New-York, 

Rutger's College, New-York, 

Literary and Philosophical Society, New-York, 

Columbia College, New-York, 

Military Order, New-York, . . . , 

Masonic, New-York 

From the Ontario Repository, 
" Buffalo Emporium, 
" Utica Sentinel, 
" St. Lawrence Gazette, . 
" Western Courier, .... 

City of Schenectady, 

Village of Herkimer, 

Village of Rochester, . . . 

Village of Kingston, 

Canandaigua, 

Sacket's Harbour, 

Batavia, . 

Oration, delivered at C. Valle}^, by J. Brackett, Esq. 

" " Batavia, by D. H. Chandler, Esq. 167 

« « S. Harbour, by E. Camp, Esq. 169 

Public sentiment throughout the United States. 

Eulogium of S. Simpson, Esq. of Philadelphia, . 173 

Proceedings of New-York delegation at Washington, 177 

Mr. Van Buren's speech, 177 

From the Charleston Mercury, .... 180 
" Maryland Gazette, .... 181 

" National Journal, 181 

" Richmond Enquirer, .... 182 
« New-Haven Chronicle, ... 183 

" Boston Pitriot, ..... 183 
" Pittsfield Argus, . . . . 183 



page, 
141 

144 

145 

146 

147 

148 

151 

152 

154 

155 

157 

158 

159 

160 

161 

162 

163 

164 

164 

165 



Vlll. 



CONTENTS. 



page. 

From the Baltimore Gazette, .... 184 

" Vermont Intelligencer, . . . 184 

Letter from a member of Congress, , . . 185 

Virginia Masonic Lodge, 185 

Baltimore " ..... 187 

Dist Columbia " ..... 187 

From the United States Gazette, .... 188 

" Montreal Spectator, .... 188 

" United States Telegraph, . . . 189 

" Harrisburgh Intelligencer, 189 

" Providence Journal, .... 190 

Nashville Whig, ..... 191 

" Boston Evening Bulletin, . . . 191 

" Cincinnati Chronicle, . . . . 193 

" Georgia Journal, . . . . . 193 

" Knoxville Register, .... 194 

" American Advocate, . . . . 195 

Grand Royal Arch Chapter of District of Columbia, 195 

Address of Caleb Attwater, Esq. of Circleville. Ohio, 197 

Mount Calvary Encampment, Middlebury, Vt. . 199 

Masonic proceedings at Milledgeville, Geo. . 200 

Masonic ceremonies at Washington City, . . 202 

General Jackson's Toast, 204 

Conclusion, . . . . . . . 204 



XiXFE 



mm wiww (B^wimmw^ 



During the civil wars in England, in the reign of 
Charles the first, William Clinton was distinguished 
by his attachment to the royal cause. On its failure, 
he sought refuge, with many other of the adherents of 
Charles, on the continent of Europe. After spending 
some time in France and Spain, he went secretly to 
Scotland, where he married a lady of the family of ^ 
Kennedy. He finally settled in Ireland, where he died, 
leaving a son named James, then but two years old. 
On attaining the age of manliood, James made a visit 
to England for the purpose of recovering his patrimo- 
nial estate. In this object he did not succeed ; but 
his visit was not without its advantages ; for having 
married Miss Elizabeth Smith, a daughter of a cap- 
tain in Cromwell's army, and an officer of great repu- 
tation, he acquired sufficient influence to obtain an 
honourable standing in Ireland, whither he returned. 
His son Charles, grandfather of De Witt Clinton, Vv'as 
born in the county of Longford. His father bestowed 
great care on his education; and lie seems to have 

B 



10 tlFE OF 

possessed a character of no ordinary grade; for on 
his emigrating to this country in the year 1729, he 
was attended by many of his friends, who adhered to 
his fortunes, and willingly accompanied him into a 
distant land. He established himself in the county of 
Ulster, in the state of New-York, where he filled, with 
great credit, the office of judge. He was also ap- 
pointed a colonel of the mifitia of that province, and 
commanded a regiment at the capture of Fort Fron- 
tenac, by Colonel Bradstreet. The leisure which his 
pubhc duties allowed him was devoted to the pursuits 
of literature and to the cultivation and enjoyment of 
social intercourse. George Clinton, the father of the 
late Sir Henry Chnton, was then governor of the col- 
ony. With this gentleman he formed an acquaintance, 
^which might perhaps have been produced by ties of 
distant consanguinity, but which ripened into an inti- 
macy that only a congeniality of character could have 
effected. The son of Colonel Clinton, the late vene- 
rable vice-president of the United States, was named 
after the colonial governor. Several splendid offers, 
made to him by Governor Clinton, were declined by 
the colonel, who preferred a life of respectable inde- 
pendence, in the bosom of his family and in the culti- 
vation of letters, surrounded by his colony of friends 
and countrymen, to all the allurements of office and 
all the pageantry of rank. 

Colonel Clinton left four sons and one daugiilcr. 
Of the sons, Alexander was educated at Nassau Col- 



DE WITT CLINTON. 1 1 

lege, practised as a physician, and died without chil- 
dren. Charles became a surgeon in the British army, 
and was never married. James was a major-general 
in the revolutionary army, and George filled succes- 
sively the offices of governor of New-York and vice- 
president of the United States. Major-general James 
Clinton married a lady named Mary De Witt, of a 
highly respectable family, from Holland, by whom he 
had four sons and three daughters. 

DE WITT CLINTON, the illustrious subject of 
this brief biography, who was the third son of General 
James Clinton, was born in the year 1769, at the 
family residence, in Orange county, in the state of 
, New-York. After attending to the first rudiments of 
education, he entered a grammar school, taught by the 
Rev. John Moffat, a presbyterian clergyman, from 
which he was transferred in 1782, to a distinguished 
academy at Kingston, conducted by Mr. John Addi- 
son. During the revolutionary war, few good semi- 
naries for education existed, and the reputation of this 
necessarily drew to it most of the young men of the 
s^tate of New- York, who w^ere then engaged in theii* 
course of studies. In this academy Mr. Clinton 
remained nearly two years, pursuing the usual rou- 
tine of academical education.. After the war, in 1784, 
he entered the junior class of Columbia College, hav- 
ing been examined in the presence of the regents of 
the University ; and being the first student who citter- 
ed that seminary after the conclusion of peace. His 



(2 LIFE OF 

collegiate education was attended with peculiar ad- 
vantages : the Rev. Mr. Moore, since bishop of New- 
York; Samuel Bard, M. D., late president of the Col- 
lege of Physicians and Surgeons at New- York ; John 
F<^emp, L.L. D.; J. D. Gross, D. D.; and William 
Cochran, A. M., were then professors, and in the ze- 
nith of their usefulness and reputation. He had also 
the benefit of an excellent library. At the commence- 
ment for conferring degrees, he delivered the salutato- 
ry oration in Latin, and received the honoui-s of the 
university. 

He commenced the study of the law in 1 786, with 
Samuel Jones, Esq., a celebrated counsellor, second 
to none of his profession for profound and extensive 
knowledge. Mr. Clinton received the usual licences 
or degrees in the law, but was abruptly called off from 
the furtlier cultivation of the pursuit, by circumstances 
arising from the situation of political affairs in the state 
of New- York. The germs of the two great parties 
wliich have since divided the country, were at that 
ihne beginning to appear. His uncle, George Clin- 
ton, then governor of the state, was assailed by a com- 
bination of almost all the talents of that section of the 
country ; and pamplilets and newspaper essays were 
poured upon the public with unrestrained profusion. 
Mr. Chnton, relinquishing every other pursuit, entered 
warmly aad exclusively into the vindication of the 
conduct and principles of his uncle; and it is believed 
that the greater part of tbe controversial politics on 



PE WITT CLINTON. 13 

that side, was managed by him during this period of 
turbulence and irritation. He continued with his un- 
cle, as his secretary, during his administration, which 
ended in 1795. The governor dechned a re-election, 
not only on account of the ill state of his health, but 
from his observance also of the republican rule of 
rotation in office. Mr. Chnton had been honoured, 
while widi his venerable uncle, with the ofiices of 
secretary of the University, and of the Board of For- 
tifications of New- York. Upon the retirement of the 
governor, Mr. Chnton also withdrew from public life. 
But his efforts, as an individual, in rallying and sup- 
porting the party of which he might then have been 
considered the leader, were not for a moment remitted. 
To do this witli etfect, however, it seemed necessary 
that he should be placed in a public station; and ac- 
cordingly, in tlie spring of 1797 he was elected a mem- 
ber of Assembly for the city of New-York, without 
opposition. The political peu'ty adverse to tliat to 
which Mr. Chnton belonged, obtained a majority in 
the legislature, and had among them many men of 
talents. The minority might also boast of considera- 
ble capacity, and were respectable too in point of 
numbers. Mr. Chnton became an active member of 
the house ; and although almost wholly engrossed by 
the concerns of party, he was ardently engaged on 
every subject which had relation to the advancement 
of science or the cultivation of benevolence. During 
tliis session, Robert R. Livingston was proposed as 



14 LIFE OF 

governor, in opposition to John Jay, and Mr. Clinton 
wrote the address to the electors, in favour of the 
former gentleman. Mr. Jay, however, succeeded in 
his election. Mi\ Clinton was at this period chosen 
a member of the Senate for four years ; and in that 
body had the pleasure to meet as members his old 
preceptors, Addison and Jones. Differing from them 
on many points of political importance, and feeling in 
comm.on with persons of all parties, the irritation pro- 
duced by the times, Mr. Chnton experienced no dimi- 
nution of the attachment he had always entertained, 
and never for a moment lost sight of the respect he 
had been accustomed to extend towards these worthy 
men. During this period of his legislative career, a 
large portion of his attention was bestowed upon sub- 
jects which had relation to the protection of the pub- 
lic health; the promotion of agriculture, manufac- 
tures, and the arts generally ; the establisliment of the 
credit of our staple commodities in foreign markets ; 
the gradual abolition of slavery; the encouragement 
of steam-boats; and the various objects of municipal 
improvement. 

In the spring of 1800, the current of public opinion 
was turned in favour of the political party to which 
Mr. Clinton was attached, and they succeeded at the 
election of that year by a large majority. The oppo- 
site party had at this time a majority in the Senate, 
and in Mr. Jay, as governor, they possessed a re- 
spectable ond most decided executive officer. Mr. 



DE WITT CLINTON. 15 

Clinton was chosen a member of the Council of Ap- 
pointment, between whom and tlie governor a violent 
dispute arose respecting the exclusive right of nomi- 
nation, which, while it lasted, suspended all appoint- 
ments. On the 26th of February, the governor rep- 
resented the conduct of the council to the Assembly, 
and on the 17th of March, this representation was 
followed by a long argumentative answer, written by 
Mr. Clinton. The subject being left to the state con- 
vention, which regulated the number of legislators, 
that body pronounced, on this much controverted 
point, in favour of the council. The Assembly of 
1800 was composed of the most respectable men of 
the party, among whom were Governor Clinton, Gen- 
eral Gates, General Chnton, Judge Livingston, Lieu- 
tenant-governor Broome, and Mr. Samuel Osgood. 
The ensuing spring, George CHnton was again elect- 
ed governor. 

On the 9th of February, 1802, Mr. Chnton was 
appointed a senator of the United States, in the place 
of General Armstrong, who had resigned ; and on the 
23d of the same month he took his seat in the Senate, 
of which he continued an active member until Octo- 
ber, 1803, when he retired, having been chosen mayor 
of the city of New-York. The journals of the Senate 
bear evidence of his attention to liis official duties. 
The part he took in the debate on the proposition of 
Mr. Ross to seize New-Orleans, served greatly to 
distinguish him. 



16 > LIFE OF 

He continued to preside over the police of New- 
York, until the 9th of March, 1807, when he was 
succeeded as mayor by Colonel Willet. 

In April, 1805, having been again sent to the Senate 
of the state of New-York, he brought forward in that 
body, a plan for the defence of the city, which was 
adopted, and appropriations voted to carry it into ex- 
ecution. His efforts were also used to extend the 
benefits of education, by encouraging the Lancaste- 
rian system ; to the removing disabihties from Ro- 
man Catholics ; to the permanent support of the New- 
York Hospital; and to the advancement of various 
benevolent institutions. On the 3 1 st of January, 1 806, 
he was chosen a member of the Council of Appoint- 
ment. 

In 1808, Mr. Clinton was again appointed mayor 
of New- York. He was also this year chosen a re^ 
gent of the University. In the Senate he still con- 
tinued to extend his support to the ecouragement of 
free schools and colleges, and manufactures. 

In the course of this session, at his instance, the 
Academy of Fine Arts in New- York, was incorporat- 
ed, and spacious rooms in the government-liouse as- 
signed for its accommodation. The preceding year, 
1807, had witnessed a great political convulsion in 
the state, which terminated in the complete revolution 
of parties, and in the first election of Governor Tomp- 
kins. 

Tlie record of the proceedings of the Senate of 



DE WITT CLINTON. 1^7 

New- York, for the sessions of 1809, 1810, and 1811, 
exhibits proofs of Mr. Chnton's great usefulness. — 
Under his auspices, the New- York Historical ?50ciety 
was incorporated ; the Orphan Assykuii, and Free 
School were fostered and encouraged; and a fur 
company was established, with the view of diverting 
that important branch of inland trade from Canada. 
He introduced laws to prevent kidnapping, or the 
further introduction of slaves, and to punish those 
who should treat them inhumanly; for the support of 
the quarantine establishment ; for the encouragement 
of missionary societies ; for the improvement of the 
pubhc police; for the prevention and punishment of 
crime ; for the perfecting the militia system ; for pro- 
moting medical science ; and for endowing semina- 
ries of education. 

In 1811 Mr. Clinton was chosen mayor of New- 
York, having been superceded the preceding year, in 
consequence of a change of party in the city. This 
office he continued to hold, by annual appointment, 
until 1815. 

An act of the legislature had been passed, on the 
motion of Mr. Chnton, in 1808, for granting one hun- 
dred thousand dollars to be appropriated towards for- 
tifying the city of New- York. This, and other laws, 
which were subsequently passed, were carried into 
execution by a board of commissioners, of which he 
was president. The important works on Staten Isl^ 
and, show the intelligence, economy and active Indus- 



18 LIFE OF 

try of the board, aided by the science and practical 
skill as an engineer, of Colonel Jonathan Williams, 
who superintended the erection of the works. At a 
later period, during the recent war, Mr. Chnton was 
chau-jnan of a coniniittee of the corporation, and 
drew the masterly report which indicated the meas- 
ure and the mode of defending the city. His plan 
was adopted and carried into effect, under his auspi- 
ces, by the corporation, aided by the patriotic inhabit- 
ants of New-York and the surrounding country, by 
whose exertions works of defence sprang up in every 
direction. During tliis period of danger, Mr. Clinton 
believed it to be his duty to offer his services for ac- 
tive operation in the field, having held for some time 
the station of major-general in the mihtia of the state. 

In 1811 he was chosen lieutenant-governor of the 
state of New-York ; and in the following year, was 
recommended as a candidate for the office of presi- 
dent of the United States by the unanimous voice of 
the republican members of the state of New-York. 

Governor Clinton was closely connected with many 
literary, scientific and benevolent institutions, of sever- 
al of wiiich he was the framer, and of which he seem- 
ed to have been the animating spirit. He was presi- 
dent of the Literary and Philosophical Society of New- 
York, and of the Economical Scliool Societies ; a re- 
gent of the University; a member of the Society for 
the Promotion of Useful Arts ; and of the Humane So- 
cietv. He was admitted a member o^ the American 



©E WITT CLINTON. 19 

Philosophical Society, and of all the principal associa- 
tions in this country, and of several in Europe. In 
1812, he received the honorary degree of L.L. D. 
and was for a number of years, Grand Master of the 
Grand Lodge, and presided over some of the higher 
branches of that institution. On the incorporation of 
the Literary and Philosophical Society, he, as their 
president, opened their first meeting with an introduc- 
tory discourse, w^hich has been generally and deserv- 
edly admired, both for its style and matter. This dis- 
course is pubhshed in the first volume of the transac- 
tions of that society, in quarto. A second discourse 
is printed in the second volume of the collections of 
the New- York Historical Society, together with a 
memorial sohciting legislative aid for that institution. 
This eloquent appeal induced a grant from the legis- 
lature, of twelve thousand dollars. Another discourse 
of Mr. Clinton, delivered upon the first exhibition of 
the American Academy of the Fine Arts, estabhshed 
in New-York, together with his speeches on the con- 
templated war with Spain, and his various addresses 
and reports, have appeared in print. 

During his occupancy of a seat in the Senate of 
this state, he was called upon, as a member of the 
highest tribunal, to give opinions in controverted 
cases. Some of which are contained in Johnson's 
reports. 

De Witt Clinton was married to Maria Franklin, 
the eldest daughter of Walter Franklin, an eminent 



2Q LIFE OF 

and opulent mei-chant of New- York. By this lady he 
was blessed with a numerous family of children. 

As a citizen, useful, active, and meritorious, he was 
second, probably, to no man in the United States. — 
In the great and growing state and city of which he 
was a native and resident, no man has stamped his 
name, his genius, and his services on more monu- 
ments of public munificence and private utihty. 

With a capacity improved by long habits of practi- 
cal attention to business, few men in any legislative 
body or executive council, ever acquired that degree 
of facility, correctness and rapidity of performance, in 
the ordinary affairs of society, which have eminently 
distinguished his pubhc life. In his judicial duties, 
promptitu^ sohdity, and talent marked his course — 
his energy was equal to any occuiTcnce and his decis- 
ions and opinions were regarded as standard authori- 
ties. 

As a public speaker, he addressed himself to the 
judgment ratlier than to the passions — he commanded 
the understanding rather than fascinated the heart — 
and the ornaments and graces of declamation were 
supphed by the undaunted firmness of his manner, 
the full manly tone of his voice, the soundness of logic, 
the strength of remark, the beauty of method, and the 
cl *arness and force of deduction. As a writer, his 
style was neither gorgeous nor unadorned. Not des- 
titute of the be:iuties of language and embellishments 
of fancy, nor simply stale or insipidly tame and cold., 



DE WITT CLINTON. ^ 2l 

it preserved a medium between the rugged and the 
weak, the inflated and the low, and was adapted with 
a happy and natural skill to the numerous and dissimi- 
lar topics which from time to time it embraced. — 
Didactic, serious, and impressive, when the subject 
required, learned and scientific when necessary ; gay 
and sportive when proper; his pen displayed a versa- 
tility of power which few possess. His more weighty 
and voluminous productions are before the pubhc, in 
this and other countries, and received their due ap- 
preciation — his technical and incidental productions 
are registered in the historical, political, legislative, 
and municipal records of the day ; his abilities on 
diplomatic questions, national affairs, and state con- 
cerns, were often displayed to an unconscious com- 
munity ; while, in his higher and more t9-piporary 
effusions, the manly pungency of Junius, and the ease 
and familiar beauty of Addison, were admired, but 
not excelled, in our country. 

His mind and cast of thought were of the finest or- 
der, partaking less of the Machiavelian than the Ro- 
man school, and exhibiting a great portion of innate 
dignity and the fortiter in re than are at all times con- 
venient or advantageous to a candidate for popular 
suffrage. In every station he distinguished himself 
by his talents, his integrity, and his despatch of busi- 
ness. His reading was multifarious, indefatigable, 
well-directed and profitable; for his judgment digest- 
ed and his memory retained tlie collected knowledge 

c 



22 



LIFE OF 



of every hour, allowed from his niuiierous avocation* 
for study and reflection. 

In reUgion, he was neither a bigoted sectarian, nor 
scoffer at the superstitious. Reverencing the great 
principles and duties of rational piety, he cherished 
the dictates of devotion in all, and respected the te- 
nets and honest singularities of the most peculiar.— 
Estabhshing no exclusive denomination over others, 
he would tolerate every class of sincere professors, 
and protect them in a liberal exercise of their ideas of 
divine worship. His charities have principally kept 
pace with his ability; his pecuniary aid, and his 
friendly advice and assistance, were always at the 
service of indigence, virtue, benevolence, literature, 
the arts, and public utility. If tlie circle of his confi- 
dential associates was contracted, it was not because 
he discarded attachments when they ceased to be 
profitable. In his intercourse with the various classes 
of his fellow-citizens, to which his universal knowl- 
edge of business called him, his suavity of disposition 
and urbanity of manners banished every idea of fas- 
tidious reserve and austerity of demeanour, and ren- 
dered his presence desiderable and his co-operation 
sought for on every humane and laudable occasion. 

Mr. Clinton's personal appearance was dignified 
and commanding. His form was large and well pro- 
portioned — his height above the middle size — his 
countenance was higiily expressive — his eye uncom- 
monly penetrating — his personal courage never was 



DE WITT CLINTON. 23 

disputed. His moral character was unsullied. He 
has been called ambitious, it is true; but the whole 
course of his life serves to prove that he has devoted 
his talents to his country. He desired to excel, only 
that he might benefit mankind. In private life and 
domestic duties, he was amiable and exemplary — 
exhibiting the picture of a great man — an elegant and 
profound scholar and a practical citizen — a man of 
letters and of the world, and a character of active 
worth to the present generation, and of solid and 
permanent advantage to posterity. 



[iVbfe.— It is justice to add, that, with some immaterial alterations 
the foregoing was taken from Delaplaine's Repository.] I 



ContCnttation 

OF 

3M[R. CXiXNTON'S KZrZSp 

BY THE COMPILER. 



In the year 1810, De Witt Clinton was appointed 
by a resolution of the legislature of New- York, one of 
the Commissioners "for exploring the route of an in- 
land navigation from Hudson's river to Lake Ontario, 
and Lake Erie." They were authorized to direct and 
procure such surveys as to them should appear ne- 
cessary and proper, and they should report upon the 
subject to the next legislature. In March, 1811, the 
said commissioners made their report to the legisla- 
ture, presenting a very full and luminous view of the 
whole subject, together with their estimates and opin- 
ion. (Five thousand copies of that report were or- 
dered to be printed.) 

Mr. Clinton, then lieutenant-governor, introduced 
a bill into the senate entitled "An act to provide 
for the improvement of the internal navigation of the 
state," which became a law in April, 1811. By that 
law Mr. CUnton was again appointed one of the com- 
missioners ; and they were empowered to ask the as- 



26 LIFE OF 

r 

sistance and aid of the congress of the United States, 
in the stupendous works then in contemplation. 

De Witt Clinton and Governeur Morris were 
deputed by the Board of Commissioners to perform 
that duty. They proceeded to Washington, and on 
the 21st day of December, 1811, waited on the presi- 
dent of the United States, exhibited their credentials, 
presented a memorial to be laid before congress, and 
urged with great force, arguments to induce the fa- 
vourable notice of the general government. After re- 
maining at Washington about three weeks, spending 
their time in conferences with tjie heads of depart- 
ments and committees, endeavouring to persuade 
them to a co-operation in the vast undertaking, they 
returned home, and afterwards learned that congi-ess 
refused any aid. In March, 1812, the commissioners 
made their report to the legislature, and insisted " that 
now sound policy imperatively demanded that the ca- 
nal should be made by the state, and for her own ac- 
count, as soon as circumstances would permit;" 
.^'and that it would be a want of wisdom and almost 
of piety, not to employ for public advantage those 
means which providence had placed so completely in 
our power." In their estimate of the tolls from the 
canals, they state, "should the canal cost even ten 
millions, it will soon pay the interest, and soon after- 
wards, by necessary increase, discharge the princi- 
pal. There can be no doubt that those microcosmic 
minds which are incapable of discerning what is 



DE WITT CLINTON. . 27 

great, and who already stigmatize the canal as a ro- 
mantic scheme, will distribute the epithets, absurd, 
ridiculous and chimerical, on our estimate. The 
commissioners must nevertheless have the hardihood 
to brave the sneers of men who undervalue what they 
do not understand, and condemn what they cannot 
comprehend." 

With prophetic wisdom, the commissioners de- 
clare, "that after a lapse of two thousand years, and 
the ravage of repeated revolutions, when the records 
of history shall have been obhterated, and the tongue 
of tradition have converted (as in China) the shadowy 
remembrance of ancient events into the childish tales 
of miracles, this national work shall remain. It 
shall bear testimony to the genius, the learning, the / 
industry and intelhgence of the present age!" (Five ^ 
thousand copies of that report were ordered to be 
printed.) 

In March, 1814, the commissioners again made 
their report to the legislature, in which they confi- 
dently assert the facility and practicability of the Erie 
and Champlain Canals. 

In April, 1814, the legislature passed a law, in ef- 
fect, to suspend any further proceeding of the com- 
missioners, on account of the war between the United 
States and Great-Britain. 

In March, 1816, the commissioners again reported 
to the legislature, and added that their opinions had 
been confirmed by reflection and additional enquiry. 



28 LIFE OF 

In this year, numerous petitions and memorials from 
the cities, counties, viUages and towns in the state, 
were presented to the legislature, praying the con- 
templated improvements ; and in April, in that year, a 
law was passed, "to provide for the improvement of 
the inland navigation of this state," by which De Witt 
Clinton was appointed one of the commissioners to 
consider, devise and adopt such measures as should 
be requisite to facilitate and effect the great objects in 
view. 

In February, 1817, the commissioners made a very 
elaborate report, stating that three of them, (Mr. Clin- 
ton having been one) had personally examined and ex- 
plored the route of the Western Canal, and superin- 
tended and directed the general operations of the 
engineers. 

In April, 1817, a law was passed, entitled "An act 
respecting navigable communications between the 
great western and northern lakes and the Atlantic 
ocean," which continued De Witt Clinton, and gave 
the commissioners, for the first time, tlie distinctive 
appellation of "Canal Commissioners," and author- 
ized and directed the commencement of the canals. 
Under that law, the canals were commenced imme- 
diately, and the Erie Canal, 362 miles long, and the 
Champlain Canal, 71 miles long, were both com- 
pletely finished and in successfid operation by Octo- 
ber, 1825. Mr. Chnton continued to be a canal 
commissioner from the year 1810, till April, 1824, 



DE WITT CLINTON. 29 

and never claimed or was allowed any pay for his ser- 
vices. 

[On the 30th of July, 1818, Mr. Chnton's wife died 
at Mount Vernon, near the city of New- York.] 

In the year 1817 there was a vacancy in the office 
of governor of the state of New- York, in consequence 
of his Excellency D. D. Tompkins having been elect- 
ed vice-president of the United States. In that year 
Mr. Chnton was nominated by a vast majority of the 
state convention of delegates and at the general elec- 
tion in April he was for the first time elected govern- 
or of the state of New- York with unexampled una- 
nimity and almost without opposition. 

On the 21st April 1819, Mr. Clinton married, for 
his second wife, Miss Catharine Jones, a daughter of 
Doctor Thomas Jones, of a highly respectable family 
in the city of New- York. 

In 1820 he was again elected governor over D- D. 
Tompkins, the opposing candidate, dfter a violently 
contested election. 

At the next election in 1822, he dechned being a 
candidate, when Joseph C. Yates was elected gov- 
ernor, being the first under the new constitution of 
our state, which went into operation in January, 1823. 

In April, 1824, by a concurrent resolution of the 
legislature, he was removed from the office of canal 
commissioner. His removal drew forth a general 
burst of indignation from candid men of all parties ; 
for there was no pretence of misconduct, nor had he 



30 tIFE OF 

ever received or claimed any compensation for his 
services. 

In consequence of his removal as canal commis- 
sioner, public meetings were held in various parts of 
the state disapproving and condemning the measure 
as highly unjust and impolitic. Only two meetings 
shall be here noticed. A very large and respectable 
meeting was held at the Capitol in the city of Albany, 
in April, 1834, at which the Hon. John Tayler presid- 
ed and Gen. John H. Wendell was secretary; the fol- 
lowing resolution, among others, was adopted. — 
"Resolved, that the boldness with which he (De Witt 
Clinton) planned, the patriotic devotion with which 
he undertook, and the commanding talents and unre- 
mitting ardour, with which he has successfully prose- 
cuted a scheme of internal improvements, surpassing 
in magnitude all that had ever been conceived on this 
side of the Atlantic, and no less useful than grand, 
this distinguished citizen is entitled to the admiration, 
gratitude and applause of his country, and especially 
of the state of New- York." 

There was also a meeting of the citizens of the city 
of New-York, disapproving of the measure. That 
meeting first assembled at Washington Hall, but ad- 
journed to the " Park." The number of persons pre- 
sent was estimated at ten thousand, and was the 
largest meeting ever convened in that city. The 
venerable Col. Few was chairman, and John Rath- 
bone, Jr. was secretary. The following resolution, 



DE WITT CLINTON. 31 

uiiiong others, was adopted with acclamation. " Re- 
solved, that we consider De Witt Clinton pre- 
eminently useful to the age in which he lives, and that 
for fourteen years of public service in the prosecution 
of the Great Western and Northern Canals, without 
salary or reward, he is richly entitled to the gratitude 
of the state of New-York, of the nation at large, and 
of posterity." 

In October, 1825, the canal was completed as we 
have before remarked, when a great state jubilee took 
place. The consummation of the most magnificient 
and glorious enterprise of the age, had finally arrived. 
The peal of cannon was heard from Erie's shores to 
the Atlantic ocean. 

At the general election in November, 1824, the same 
year that he was removed from the office of canal 
com'missioner, he was again elected governor of the 
state, over Samuel Young, Esquire, by an overwhelm- 
ing majority of sixteen thousand votes. This distinguish- 
ed mark of approbation, evinced the high estimate of 
his character. 

On the 19th March, 1825, the merchants in Pearl- 
street, in the city of New-York, " deeply impressed 
^vith a sense of the benefits he had conferred upon 
the state," presented him with two superb Silver 
Vases, as a testimony of their gratitude and respect. 
These vases were presented by Mr. Isaac S. Hone, 
with an address in behalf of the committee, to which 
Mr, Clinton made an appropriate reply. The follow- 



32 LIFE OP 

ing inscription was upon one of the vases. " To the 
honourable De Witt Chnton, who has developed the 
resources of the state of New-York, and ennobled her 
character: the merchants of Pearl-street offer this 
testimony of their gratitude and respect." 

In February, 1825, shortly after John Quincy Adams 
was elected president of the United States, Mr. Chn- 
ton was tendered the dignified and honourable ap- 
pointment of American Ambassador to the Court of 
St. James. This flattering offer he declined in the 
following note to Mr. Adams. "Having recently ac- 
cepted from the people of this state the highest office 
in their power, I cannot consistently with my sense 
of duty retire from it, until I have had an ample op- 
portunity of evincing my gratitude and my devotion 
to their interests." 

At the next election in November, 1826, Mr. Clin- 
ton was again elected governor, over Wilham B. 
Rochester, and continued in that office until his death. 

The question, who projected the Erie Canal? shall 
not be discussed here. It is sufficient honour to the 
memory of De Witt Clinton, that the early com- 
mencement^ vigorous prosecution and successful completion 
of theErie and Champlain Canals, are justly ascrib- 
ed by his cotemporaries, chiefly to his indefatigable 
zeal, untiring perseverance, and unremitted ar- 
dour in the gi'eat cause of inland navigation* the 
irresistible energy of l)is character, and the pow- 
erful influence of his official station and great talents. 



Dt WITT CLINTON. 33 

were constantly exerted to accomplish the undertak- 
ing. He made the canal a favomite object of his de- 
voted attention, and notwithstanding all the ignorance, 
prejudice, and opposition that he encountered, he 
hazarded his reputation as a statesman upon the 
issue of the measure. He first opened the eyes of 
the public mind to see the true policy of the state, and 
having at length produced a practical conviction of 
the practicability and utility of the canal, his views 
and efforts were seconded by enlightened and patriot- 
ic legislatures. The canals will remain a perpetual 
monument of De Witt Clinton's greatness. Upon 
them is ascribed his highest eulogium; while the 
character of his mind is impressed upon the institu- 
tions of our state and liis name is identified with so- 
cial improvements, whose happy influence will adorn 
and dignify and bless remote generations. 

He died cd Albany, in his dwelling-house, on 
the 11th February, 1828, aged 58 years and 11 
months, in the full possession of all his faculties. He 
left his wife, and Charles, De Witt, George Washing- 
ton, FrankUn, Mary, and Julia Catharine Clinton, 
children of his first vv' ife, surviving him. 



D 



3PXRST Airi^OUirCEMEKT OF HZS DEJ&TH. 



From the Albany Daily Mvertiser, 

Albany, February 12, 1828. 
DE WITT CLINTON IS NO MORE! 

The bright luminary which has shed its glory upon 
@ur country for many years, is set forever ! But its 
remembrance will ever be as green as the hills over 
which it has revolved, and as permanent as the ada- 
mantine rocks of our country. Last evening, at about 
seven o'clock, the whole city was thrown into agita- 
tion and gloom by the report of the death of the 
GREAT MAN, and subsequent accounts but too fa- 
tally confirmed the fact. An immense crowd assem- 
bled in front of his late dwelling to ascertain the truth 
of the rumour which had gone forth, each being loth 
to believe its accuracy till it was fully confirmed by 
the attending physicians. He was sitting in his study, 
and while conversing with two of his sons, his head 
fell forward, and life instantly left him. His death was 
probably occasioned by a rupture of the heart. All 
attempts to resuscitate him proved vain. 

From the Albany JUorning Chronicle, 

DEATH OF GOVERNOR CLINTON. 

We stop the press to announce the sudden and un- 
expected death of His Excellency DE WITT CLIN- 



36 ANNOUNCEMENT 

TON. We have not learned particulars, further thaii 
that about 7 o'clock last evening he was discovered, 
in his office, to be attacked with an apoplectic fit, and 
expired in a few minutes. Our city is all gloom and 
consternation at the event. Truly it may be said, 
•'a great man hath fallen this day, in Israel." 



From the Daily Albany Argus. 

We discharge a melancholy duty in announcing the 
death of Governor Chnton. He expired last evening, 
of an apoplexy. The summons came without scarcely 
a moment's warning, whilst he was sitting in his chair, 
in the midst of his family. 

The sensation which this event produced through- 
out the city, and continues to produce, need not be 
described. It came with the suddenness of the elec- 
tric shock ; and seems, even now, to be a dream, ra- 
ther than melancholy reality. 

Owing to the crowd that during the evening occu- 
pied the house of the governor, and the confusion in- 
cident to the event, we are not able to ascertain all 
the facts that we could have desired to communicate 
for the public information. We understand that Gov. 
C. discharged his official avocations during the day 
as usual ; having written several letters in the after- 
noon. He died almost instantly, the first indication 
of the approach of the attack being the faUing back of 
his head upon the chair, and the lapse between that 



OF HIS DEATH. 37 

moment and the arrival of Dr. Bay, when life was ex- 
tinct, not being more than ten minutes. All efforts to 
restore animation proved unavailing; notwithstand- 
ing they were unremitted to a late hour last night. 

Governor Clinton's fame will U^e after him. His 
life and actions now form a part of the public history. 
We have ever been of his political opponents, but the 
grave closes all animosities. We speak of political 
animosities ; personal, with us, there was none. We 
can only now mingle our sorrow with that of the 
whole community, and especially with his bereaved 
and deeply afflicted family. 



D* 



PROCEEDINGS 

OE THE 

LEGISLATURE OF NEW-YORK ON THE DEATH OF 
MR. CLINTON. 



In Senate, Feb. 12th, the session was opened by an 
appropriate prayer by the Rev. Mr. Young, alluding 
to the dispensation of Divine Providence, in suddenly 
taking from us the governor of the state. 

On motion of Mr. Spencer, the reading of the jour- 
nal of yesterday's proceedings was dispensed with. 

The resolutions of the Assembly, relative to the 
death of Governor Clinton, and his funeral obsequies, 
were announced to the Senate. [See proceedings of 
the Assembly.] 

Mr. Spencer, moved that the Senate concur in the 
resolutions ; and followed up his motion by some brief, 
eloquent and pertinent remarks upon the character, 
talents and public services of the deceased, which we 
venture to say were responded to by the heart of every 
member of the Senate, and the crowded audience in 
attendance. 

Mr. Crary, said he rose to express his approbation 
of the resolutions from the Assembly, and second the :v 
motion of his honoured friend, for concurrence. De 
Witt Chnton is gone — gone did I say? not wholly so : 
his fame survives ; of it all time shall be the faithful 



40 - LEGISLATIVE 

guardian. Of him when hving it may be truly said — 

" All the black cares and tumults of this life, 
Like harmless thunders breaking at his feet, 
Excite his pity, not impair his peace." 

Now he is dead, it is due to him, to his family, and 
ourselves, together with the weeping multitude, by 
whom we are surrounded, to concur in these resolu- 
tions. 

Amidst the general gloom, I have no heart to do 
business, or power of utterance to say more. 

The Senate then unanimously concurred in the 
resolutions ; and on their part, the following commit- 
tee was appointed, viz : Messrs. Spencer of Ontario, 
Carroll of Livingston, Allen of Genesee, and McCar- 
ty of Albany. 



In Assembly, yesterday, after prayer by the Rev. 
Mr. Young — 

Mr. Butler rose and spoke as follows : 
It seems, Mr. Speaker, to devolve upon me as the 
representative of this city, to call the attention of the 
house, to that awful event, which, since our last sit- 
ting, has shrouded this metropolis in mourning. — 
Death has been among us ! and he has aimed at no 
common mark. By one of those signal displays of 
his power, which illustrate the supremacy of the Al- 
mighty, and the nothingness of man, he has cut down 
one not only pre-eminent in station, but most conspic- 



PROCEEDINGS. 41 

uous for talents and public services. How inscruta- 
ble are the ways of Providence! It seems but as 
yesterday, since we were called to lament the death 
of an adopted son, whose eloquence created an era 
in our history, and whose virtues and talents render- 
ed him an ornament alike to the old world and the 
new : and now, when the tears shed for Emmet are 
scarcely dried, another — ^lils appointed culoo^isi- — has 
like him, been stricken down, in the fullness of his 
fame, and on the very field of his renown — and that 
too, ere he had performed the sad but honourable duty 
to which he had been called. 

In the resolutions which I shall have the honour to 
submit, I have endeavoured to express the common 
feelings of this house and of the community. Before 
they are read, I shall attempt the further duty of say- 
ing something of the character and services of the 
illustrious dead. I do not intend to speak his eulogy 
— for I have neither sufficient controul over my feel- 
ings to perform the task,^ nor would the suddenness 
of the occasion permit me to do justice to the subject. 
Other reasons would also restrain me — overwhelmed 
with that deep sense of the vanity of human greatness, 
which this event is so well calculated to inspire, I 
dare not flatter him. 

But I may say without offence, and in the spirit of 
history, that this state, since the formation of its gov- 
ernment, nay more, since the settlement of the coun- 
try, has never produced an individual, who has exert- 



42 LEGISLATIVE 

ed so great an influence upon the interests of the state, 
or whose name is more Ukely to be perpetuated in its 
history. 

It was the fortune of De Witt Chnton, for nearly 
thirty years, to he the head of a great party ; and the 
mark at which were hurled the shafts of a powerful 
opposition. Of those who supported or those, who 
opposed him, ^^'i« i^ f^^t the occasion to speak. It is 
known to every member of this house, that ever since 
my acquaintance with political affairs, I have acted 
with the latter; but it aifords me at this moment un- 
speakable delight, to reflect that for many years there 
has been mingled with that opposition nothing per- 
sonal, save respect for his character, and admiration 
of his talents. That respect and admiration were 
justly due him; for to his honour be it said, that 
whilst he pursued with avidity political distinction, he 
had the wisdom to seek for enduring fame not from 
the possession of power or the triumphs of the day, 
but by identifying himself with the great interests of 
the community. It was his ambition to be distinguish- 
ed as the friend of learning and of morals, and as the 
advocate and patron of every measure calculated to 
promote the welfare or increase the glory of the state. 

Let the statesmen of the present day, those who 
are now engaged in the career of ambition, learn wis- 
dom from his example. The grave of Clinton will 
soon cover the recollections of his political honours, 
and in it will be buried the triumphs and reverses of 



^PROCEEDINGS. 43 

the hour. But his fame, as the patron of schools and 
seminaries of learning, as the friend of morals and 
benevolence, and as the ardent champion of every 
great public improvement, w^ill flourish while Time 
shall last. Need I remind you of his efforts to call 
out and to foster the latent genius of our people? 
Need I speak of his labours in aid of that great work^ 
which has conferred so much glory on his native 
state, and so largely contributed to the happiness of 
its inhabitants'? By connecting his fortunes with the 
success of that stupendous project, and by devoting 
to it the best energies of his mind, what an unfading 
wreath did he secure? So long as the waters of the 
great lakes shall flow through this new channel to 
the Atlantic, so long shall history record his name ! 

I rejoice, sir, that he was not taken from us, until 
he had witnessed the triumphant consummation of 
that great work. I rejoice still more that he was per- 
mitted to outlive, to a gi^eat degree, the collisions, the 
prejudices, and the asperities of party; and that there 
is now nothing to prevent the representatives of the 
people, from awarding to his memory the honours he 
deserves. I feel therefore that I may safely call on 
the members of this house — on the votaries of science 
— the friends of hum.anity and morals — the pliilan- 
thropist and the patriot, to unite with me in stre\^'ing 
flowers on his bier; and in compliance with usages 
rendered holy by the purest feehngs of our nature, to 



44 LEGISLATIVE 

join in a solemn expression of respect for his memov} , 
and of sorrow for his loss. 

The following are the resolutions offered by Mr. 
Butler. 

It having pleased the Almighty, suddenly to remove 
by death the chief magistrate of this state, and the 
legislature being desirous to manifest its deep sense 
of the great pubhc loss sustained by the state, and the 
American nation, it is therefore 

Resolved, unanimously, by the Senate and Assem- 
bly of the state of New-York, that in testimony of the 
profound grief, felt by this legislature, on the sudden 
death of DE WITT CLINTON, governor of this 
state, the members of the Senate and Assembly, will 
wear the usual badges of mourning, during the pre- 
sent session. 

Resolved, unanimously, that the funeral obsequies 
of the late governor, be conducted under the direction 
of a joint committee of the two houses, to consist of 
four members of the Senate, and four members of the 
Assembly. 

Resolved, unanimously, that the members of the two 
iiouses of the legislature will, in their public character, 
attend the funeral solemnities of the late governor. 

Resolved, unanimously, that these resolutions be 
transmitted to the family of the deceased Governor 
Clinton, as an evidence of the high estimation enter- 
tained by this legislature of his great talents and emi- 



PROCEEDINGS. 45 

^nt public services ; of the deep regret caused by his 
sudden and awful removal from the scene of his fame 
and of his usefulness ; and of its sincere condolence 
with those who have been so deeply afflicted by this 
dispensation of Providence. 

The above resolutions were aclopted, and Messrs. 
Butler of Albany, Porter of Erie, Granger of Ontario, 
and Brasher of New- York, were appointed the com- 
mittee on the part of the house. 

On motion of Mr. Wardwell, the house adjourned 
till 10 o'clock, Wednesday morning, to receive the 
report of the committee* 



FURTHER PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATURE OF NEW^ 
YORK, ON THE DEATH OF DE WITT CLINTON. 

The two branches of the legislature, met yesterday, 
at ten o'clock, and after adopting the following report, 
adjourned till one o'clock, this afternoon, when they 
will assemble at their chambers, and thence proceed 
10 the late dwelhng of Governor Clinton. 

The joint committee of the Senate and Assembly, 
appointed to conduct the funeral obsequies of the late 
Governor Clinton, reported : 

That they have made the arrangements which ap- 
peared necessary to conduct the funeral of Governor 
Clinton, in such a manner as to carry into effect the 

E 



46 LEGISLATIVE 

intentions of the legislature. It is believed they are 
such as will evince the sentiments of grief expressed 
by the two houses, in their resolutions, and comport 
with the character of the state. The details of their 
arrangements so far as they are necessary to be re- 
ported, will appear by the order adopted by the com- 
mittee, a copy of which is annexed. 

In cases somewhat similar it has been the practice 
to direct the chairs of the president of the Senate, and 
of the speaker of the Assembly, to be shrouded with 
black. Unwilhng to omit the least mark of respect 
to the memory of the illustrious dead, the committee 
have followed these precedents. They respectfully 
recommend that the two houses meet in their respect- 
ive chambers, to-morrow, at one o'clock, P. M. in 
order to make the necessary preparations to unite in 
the funeral solemnities. 

ORDER OF ARRANGEMENTS, 

For the Funeral of DE WITT CLIjYTOJS] late gov- 
ernor of the state of J^ew-York^ wi Thursday^ the lith 
day of February^ 1828. 

The Senate and Assembly will meet in their re- 
spective chambers, and at half past one o'clock, P. M. 
will proceed to the house of the deceased, escorted 
by tlie mihtary who may be assembled for that pur- 
pose. 

The reverend clergy of the city of Albany, are re- 
quested to join in the funeral solemnities, and for that 



PROCEEDINGS. 47 

purpose to attend at the same time, at the house of 
the deceased. 

The chancellor, justices of the supreme court, cir- 
cuit judges who may be in the city, and the state offi- 
cers, are also requested to attend at the house of the 
deceased, at the same time, for the same purpose. 

The Mayor and Common Council of the city of 
Albany, are invited to attend, and to assemble previ- 
ous to two o'clock, P. M. at some house in the vi- 
cinity. 

The citizens of the state of New- York, who may 
be desirous to pay the last tribute of respect to the 
memory of Governor Clinton, are invited to attend, 
and assemble at such of the houses in the vicinity as 
will be open for their reception. 

Places will be assigned to any benevolent, religious, 
literary or other society, and to the members of any 
particular profession, who may wish to appear as a 
body in the procession, if notice of their intention be 
given to the chairman of the committee on the part of 
the Senate, or to the chairman of the committee of the 
.Assembly. They will respectively assemble at such 
place in the vicinity as they may think proper, and 
will give notice of the place of their meeting to the 
committee. 

In order to avoid an undue collection of citizens at 
the house of the deceased, it is earnestly desired that 
those who are not specially invited to assemble there, 
would meet at some of the adjacent houses. 



48 LEGISLATIVE 

The procession will begin to move as soon after- 
{wo o'clock, P. M. as circumstances will permit. The 
signal of its moving shall be, the firing of minute guns. 
The bells of the city will then commence toUing, and 
will continue so long as the minute guns are fired. 

The following will be the order of the procession : 

The military escort. 

The clergy of the city, and the attending physicians 
of the deceased. 

The hearse and pall bearers. 

The relatives of the deceased in carriages. 

The military family of the late commander in chiet. 

The joint committee of arrangements. 

The heutenant-governor of the state. 

The Senate, preceded by its officers. 

The Assembly, preceded by its officers. 

The chancellor, justices of the supreme court and 
circuit judges. 

The state officers. 

The Common Council of the city of Albany, ^vith 
their officers. 

Judicial and executive officers of the county ol 
Albany. 

The members of the bar. 

Citizens, either in societies, or otherwise, as they 
may choose to appear. 

The procession will be formed of six persons 
abreast, and will move through North Pearl, to Colum- 
bia, North Market, Htate and Washington-streets, to 



PROCEEDINGS. 49 

ihe place of sepulture. On arriving there, military 
honours will be paid to the deceased, and the pro- 
cession will be dismissed. 

Joint Committee of Arrangements: 
Of the Senate^ Of the Assembly^ 

J. C. SPENCER, B. F. BUTLER, 
C. H. CARROLL, P. B. PORTER, 
E. B. ALLEN, F. GRANGER, 

J. McCARTY. P. BRASHER. 

The report was accepted, and the Senate then ad- 
journed until one o'clock to-morrow afternoon. 

The house met at 10 o'clock, pursuant to adjourn- 
ment. After prayer by the Rev. Mr. Young, Mr. 
Butler, from the joint committee of the Senate and 
Assembly, reported the order of arrangements for the 
funeral of the late governor, [as above] which was 
read, approved and adopted, when, on motion of Mr. 
Granger, the house adjourned until one o'clock, P. M. 
to-morrow. 

The legislative proceedings upon the occasion of 
Mr. Clinton's funeral, as well as on the bill afterwards 
introduced, for the relief of his minor children, are 
presented in coimection, in this work. 

The following bill was introduced into the Assem- 
bly of the state of New- York, by Mr. Edgerton, on 
the part of the committee, on the 15th Februarv, 1828. 



50 LEGISLATIVE 

An Act directing certain payments to be made to the 

minor children of De Witt Chnton, late governor 

of this state. 

Section 1, provides that the treasurer pay to George 
W. Clinton, Mary Clinton, Franklin CHnton, and Julia 
Catharine Clinton, minor children of De Witt Chnton, 
late governor of this state, the salary allowed by law 
to the office of governor, to be calculated from the 
11th of February instant, to the end of the year. 

Section 2, provides that the treasurer pay to the 
said minor children, a sum equal to that received for 
salary or compensation by any other canal commis- 
sioner, during the period for which De Witt Chnton 
held the office of canal commissioner. 

Section 3, provides that the payments directed to 
be made by the act, be made to such guardian of the 
minors, as the chancellor shall appoint; and that the 
chancellor make order touching the investment thereof, 
for their benefit, conformable to the course and prac- 
tice of the court in regard to the estates of infants. 

This bill was warmly opposed by General Root and 
others, arid principally on party grounds. It is ne- 
cessary to make this explanation, that the reader may 
fully understand the allusions repeatedly made in the 
following debate. 

Mr. Butler said he rose under the influence of 
emotions he had never expected to feel in that house. 



PROCEEDINGS. 51 

Sir, (said Mr. B.) the value of all that is proposed to 
' be done by this bill is lost. It has been destroyed — 
utterly destroyed — by the unhappy debate to which it 
has given rise. In the cup of consolation which you 
are about to offer, poison has been mingled, and my 
friend from Delaware has done it. I use that epithet not 
in its hacknied sense, as that gentleman well knows. 
For the fifteen years that I have known him, I have 
looked up to him as one of my poHtical fathers, and 
during the whole of that period, I have not only enter- 
tained the highest respect for his talents and public 
services, but I have cherished a strong attachment to 
his person. I have often defended him from the as- 
saults of his calumniators — I have stood by him when 
others deserted him. Even now, strongly as my feel- 
ings revolt at his course, and deeply as I feel the ne- 
cessity of replying to him, I do not mean to attack 
him. It is not in my heart to do it. His conduct in 
relation to this bill has filled with pain the bosoms of 
liis best friends ; but it has not eradicated their kind 
feeUngs towards him. Of this, I, as one, will give 
him the highest evidence, by endeavouring to save 
him from himself. 

The gentleman from Delaware is the only person 
on this floor wlio has opposed this bill on party 
grounds. Knowing that a great majority of the mem- 
bers of this house have for years been opposed to 
Mr. Clinton, he has raked up the ashes of pohtical 
contention, and has appealed to our prejudices and 



5^- LEGISLATIVE 

passions as party men, to defeat the bill. The course 
he has taken has imposed on me the painful duty — 
a duty vvliich I liad supposed would never have 
devolved on me in this hall — of appealing, also as a 
party man, to the party men who form the majority of 
this house. 

The drift of the gentleman's speeches to-day and 
on Saturday, has been, to alarm the pride and to 
arouse the passions of those who, like myselfj have 
been opposed to Governor Chnton as a politician. If 
you pass this bill, says the gendeman, you will admit 
that you have been all wrong — you give the lie 
to your professions and your actions — ^you censure 
your predecessors who removed Mr. Clinton from 
office as canal commissioner. He has even said 
that you would disgrace the democratic party. Now 
I beg the old democrats who hear me — the men who 
have wintered and summered with us for the last fif- 
teen years — (I say us^ because, though not old, my 
communion has been, as the gentleman from Dela- 
ware knows, with the old men of the party) I adjure 
them not to be deterred by any alarms of this sort, 
from doing what their hearts tell them is just, and 
what their judgments assure them their constituents 
will approve. The passing of this bill involves no 
abandonment of our political principles. If it did, I, 
for one, would not vote for it; for so far as I am con- 
cerned, if I had to live my life over again, under the 
same circumstances, I should take the same part in 



PROCEEDINGS. 53 

politics that I have heretofore taken. In a free coun- 
try, where party is essential to the preservation of 
liberty, men may honestly differ, and as honestly 
award justice or do a kindness to each other without 
any abandonment of their political principles. 

But we have been repeatedly told that Mr. CHnton 
i was turned out as canal commissioner by the demo- 
I cratic party, and that therefore we ought not to pass 
this bill. I agree with the gentleman from Delaware, 
i that the removal of Mr. Clinton was the act of our 
[ political friends. It was a party measure, for which 
the party must answer. As one of that party, I will 
not shrink from the responsibihty it imposes. The 
gentleman has repeatedly asked us if that removal was 
not right? Most undoubtedly we thought so in the 
time of it; but the people — they to whose decisions 
all parties must bow- — thought differently. It was one 
of the causes which provoked that tempest of popular 
indignation, which in 1824 swept all before it. In 
that tempest we all went down together, my friend 
from Delaware as one of the commanders, and I as a 
ship boy before the mast. After this decision by the peo- 
ple, I will not pay that that measure was right. On the 
contrary, if their judgment is worth any thing, and 
they seldom err, we must admit that we made a great 
mistake — as parties often do. But whether it was 
right or wrong, let us now do what we can to pre- 
serve the honour of the party, and of the house. 

The gentleman talks of disgrace. There will be 



54 LEGISLATIVE 

no disgrace in passing this bill ; but I will tell my 
political friends on this floor, what to do to disgi-ace 
their party, and not only their party, but their state. 
Follow the advice of the gentleman from Delaware — 
reject this bill — and you will do it most effectually. 
Look at it for a moment. Ten days ago my freind 
from Clinton, (Mr. Edgerton,) introducd a resolution 
providing for the appointment of a committee to pre- 
pare and report a bill directing certain payments to 
the children of Governor Clinton. This resolution 
was audibly read — twice I believe — at all events it 
was fully understood, for it distinctly expressed the 
object intended, and had been much talked of by 
members before it was introduced. What did you 
with it? You deliberately adopted it — not a voice 
nor a vote was heard against it. What more? The 
committee on the same day reported the bill on your 
table, and both resolution and bill appeared in the 
next morning's papers. Our proceedings went forth 
to the world as having been unanimously adopted. — 
They have gone to every part of this state — to every 
part of the union. The papers that return to us, 
whilst they bring to us from every quarter of the 
empire, expressions of deep regret and sincere con- 
dolence, are filled with commendations upon the legis- 
lature, for their liberal and magnanimous proceedings. 
This bill has been greeted with one united note of 
admiration; and that principally because it emanated 
from a party opposed to Mr. Clinton. And ngw what 



PROCEEDINGS. 55 

does the gentleman call upon us to do? To disap- 
point the expectations we have excited — to renounce 
the honours we were about to win — to expose our- 
selves to the scorn of oui' constituents and of the 
world! As one of that party, I cannot — I will not 
do it. 

But this is not all. By the course that we have ta- 
ken, we have excited hopes in another quarter. To 
that bereaved and disconsolate family, which the Al- 
jmighty has seen ht so severely to afflict, this bill came, 
jamid the gloom that surrounded them, a star of hope. 
: Tears, that anguish could not WTing, were started by 
this spontaneous offer of your sympathy. They were 
mingled with thanks to Him, who controuls the ac- 
tions of men, that he had put it into the hearts of the 
representatives of the people, to supply a father's 
place, and with fervent prayers for blessings on the 
heads of those generous men, who for the orphan's 
sake had so nobly risen above the prejudices of party. 
Will you turn those tears of gratitude into tears of de- 
spair? Will you reject the orphan's thanks and the 
orphan's prayers, and madly call them back in their 
flight to heaven? Will you do this, — and for party 
too? Much as I love the democracy of New- York, 
I would not do it for all the parties that exist — no, not 
for the highest honours they could bestow ! 

But tlie most powerful appeal to our party feelings, 
was that connected with the name of our lamented 
Tompkins. That name reminds me of all that was 



56 LEGISLAtlVli 

noble in patriotism — faithful in public services- 
winning in manners — and amiable in private life. It 
reminds me also of the ingratitude and cruelty to 
which men may be driven in the violence of party. — - 
Sir, when I remember how that devoted patriot was 
beset and hunted down by the bloodhounds of party- 
how he was driven broken-hearted to his grave, I feel 
as my friend from Delaware does. And when I re- 
member still further, as the gentleman reminded us, 
that De Witt Clinton was then the competitor of 
Tompkins — that this injustice was done to promote 
his interests — that he did not interfere to prevent it — 
that it was done perhaps with his countenance — I 
confess, it goes hard with me to vote for this bill. — 
Perhaps in the strong emotions excited by these re- 
collections, I should lose sight of justice, and even 
unite with the gentleman from Delaware, did I not 
remember that it is the fate — I had almost said tlie 
misery and the curse, of party leaders, to be made re- 
siponsible for the acts of others, and sometimes to be 
driven by the force of circumstances into the commis- 
sion of acts themselves, against which reason and 
conscience, in cooler moments, would revolt. Such 
was the persecution of that great and good man whose 
name has been dragged into this debate — and what 
did the people, those unerring judges, think of it? — 
By overwhelming majorities, they denounced it asj 
unjust and cruel. Mr. Clinton barely escaped defeat, 
but both branches of the legislature were against him. 



PROCEEDINGS. 5? 

Reparation was promptly made, so far as it could be 
made ; and whatever diversities of opinion may have 
existed among them on other subjects, the majority of 
our people have had but one opinion on this subject. 
Wliy then has this act of party violence and cruelty 
been dragged from oblivion? Because wrong was 
then done by our opponents, shall we refuse to do 
right? The people have punished those who were 
the authors of this injustice, just as they punished us 
in 1824, for the removal of Mr. Chnton as canal com- 
missioner. Let us forget on this occasion the squab- 
bles of party, and the excesses to which our opponents 
or ourselves may have been driven. I feel that I may 
make this appeal, with peculiar force, to the friends of 
Daniel D. Tompkins. Sir, all who knew that man, 
know that it was not in his nature to harbour enmity 
against a human being, and I happen to know that he 
harboured no unkind feelings against that rival and 
competitor who has now followed him to the last ac- 
count. In the year 1823, after the commission of all 
those acts of injustice to which allusion has been 
made, I spent a week at his hospitable mansion. In 
the room assigned to me, and it was the best, there 
was but one ornament, and that was a bust of De Witt 
Clinton. This circumstance made a powerful im- 
pression on my mind. It not only increased my es- 
teem for the individual, wlio could pay to a rival a 
compliment so dehcate, but it reminded me of a valu- 
able truth — a truth which I beg this house not to for- 

F 



58 LEGISLATIVE 

get — it reminded me how noble, how godlike it wa^, 
to forgive injuries, to do justice even to an adversary. 
I therefore call upon the fast friends of Daniel D. 
Tompkins, men who loved him in life, and who loved 
him in death, to do what he did, though not called up- 
on by a thousandth part of the arguments that we are, 
to forget and forgive. Pass this bill, for you know 
that he would have done it. Do it, I conjure you — - 
and do it promptly. If you cannot do it for De Witt 
Clinton, as he now lies in his grave, do it for him as 
he was, from 1798 to 1812— the pride of your party 
and the hope of your state! Do it for James Clinton, 
who fought for you at Quebec and at Fort Washing- 
ton ! Do it for George Clinton — my appeal is to party 
men — do it for George Clinton, the father of your 
state — the founder of your party ! 

Mr. Living stoN. — It is with gi^eat regret that I shall 
vote against the second section of the bill upon your 
table — all the warm and more kind emotions of gene- 
rosity; the ardent ebullitions of feeling, the sympathies 
of the heart, urge me to a contrary course; but the 
stern dictates of justice, a firm belief that such is my 
duty, compels me to it. To do so, sir, requires no 
small effort; on whatsoever side I turn, the emblems 
of mourning are presented. A nation deplores tlie 
loss of one of her briglitest sons — each heart not 
only within these walls, but of every child of America, 
of every citizen of this state, sympathizes ^^^ith my 



PROCEEDINGS. 59 

own in lamenting the bereavement. He who has 
added to tlie honours of om^ state, monuments of im- 
perishable glory. He whose luminous mind, briUiant 
conceptions, persevering industry, and indefatigable 
labours have conceived and matured those vast works 
which have given a fame to our state, exalting her 
high in the scale of nations, has been suddenly cut 
down by the fell destroyer, and has left a family whose 
necessities are great, and whose circumstances de- 
mand our pity. Every nerve, susceptible of the touch 
of sensibility, every thrilling sensation of the soul is 
called into exercise in their behalf ; but before we can 
indulge them, the objection presented by the section 
under consideration, "must be removed. If it does not 
expressly declare, it imphes that a legal demand ex- 
ists on the part of Mr. Chnton, against this state, for 
services rendered as a canal commissioner. Sir, I 
cannot consent to vote for such an admission. Had 
Mr. Clinton lived, no such claim would have been 
presented, or ever thought of Would it for one mo- 
ment have been listened to by this house, had he, in 
his life time, preferred it? No : then no considera- 
tions arising from pity — no burst of feehng would have 
made captive our reason, and I will venture to assert^ 
that an unanimous vote w^ould have resisted the de- 
mand. If, had the Almighty spared his life, he could 
not have been entitled to this grant, by what i-ule of 
justice are his children to receive it? We have been 
told that it was feared some gentlemen would not vote 



60 LEGISLATIVE 

to bestow a bounty on his children in consideration of 
his fame and services, and that they were actuated by 
conscientious motives, but that it was supposed, the 
bill in this shape might pass. It is therefore, I pre- 
sume, that it has been thus presented. Sir, I envy not 
the possession of that conscience which will prevent 
a representative of the people of this great and rich 
state from bestowing a pittance from her coffers to 
supply the wants of the orphans of him whose talents 
and labours have enriched those coffers. I cannot 
vote for this bill as an acknowledgment of indebted- 
ness; but adopt the substitute offered by the gentle- 
man from Erie, then joyfully will I unite hand and 
heart in its support. 

It has been correctly remarked, that public fame is 
public property; in return for that, would I bestow the 
bounty of the state. What a rich inheritance has De 
Witt CHnton left us. The age in which he lived, pro- 
claims his fame — the patriot and the statesman unite 
in eulogising his talents — the wise and the good exalt 
his virtues — nay, even the asperities of party are bu- 
ried in his tomb, and those who opposed him in his 
life time, now chaunt his praise. And sir, unusual as 
it is for such an universal plaudit to resound through- 
out the nation, ere yet the sod is green upon his grave, 
it is not ephemeral. That plaudit shall increase with 
successive generations, and as long as your country 
shall occupy a page in the history of nations, his fame 
will be found conspicuously stamped upon it. What 



PROCEEDINGS. 61 

is there that more exalts our pride of country, than to 
be enabled to claim as her offspring, a Washington, a 
Hamilton, a Jefferson, a Clinton? Men, who regard- 
less of private interest, have devoted their time and 
talents to the service of their country, and who have 
left to her the rich inheritance of their fame. Is there 
a bosom that does not swell with pride, whilst we ex- 
claim — those were my countrymen? Is there an heart 
that does not thrill with delight whilst we claim them 
as brethren in our republic? And must I ask, is there 
among us one whose conscience is so warped by mi- 
serly economy, that he would withhold the pittance 
necessary to preserve them from want? Sir, I can- 
not believe it. Amend that section so as to remove 
the idea of legal indebtedness, and then I trust every 
member of this committee will vote for it. The shame 
of ingratitude which has so often attached itself to re- 
publics, should be removed. A more fitting occasion 
never presented itself to commence this work of re- 
form. Instances have heretofore occurred which de- 
servedly fastened this stigma upon us. Not long 
since the immortal Fulton was removed from this 
world of care. He also bequeathed to this land the 
renown of his genius, the benefit of his talents. He 
also left infants in want, whose claims deserved a re- 
turn from yo\Ar generosity, if not from your justice. 
They were disregarded — a foul stain rests upon the 
escutcheon of your fame. I hope the time will yet 
arrive when it may be removed. Add not one that 



62 LEGISLATIVE 

will be indelible. Let this occasion be seized witb 
avidity, to proclaim that New- York will ever consider 
the orphans of her benefactors, children of the repub- 
lic, worthy of her nurture, sure of her bounty; and 
when hereafter others whose public services have 
benefitted the state, shall pay the debt of nature, to 
then- offspring also extend the fostering arm of pro- 
tection and supply. Then will the statesman, while 
pursuing the arduous labours of his station, bend eve- 
ry faculty of his mind to the good of his country, un- 
shackled by the fetters of poverty, or the dread of 
leaving his children destitute and forlorn. Then will 
the warrior rush undaunted to the charge, confident 
that if he falls in his country's cause, his children will 
find a father and brethren with his countrymen. Then 
also will be added to democracy the virtue of grati- 
tude — magnanimous gratitude. Congress has led 
the advance — the appropriations made to La Fayette 
evince the gratitude of a republic. He, a warm en- 
thusiast in the cause of Hberty, embarked both fortune 
and lif'- in her support. He gained all he expected, 
the triumph of victory, with a fame of unfading, undy- 
ing renown. He sought no more ; but in his dechn- 
ing years, when fortune was adverse to him, this un- 
ion, in part, paid her debt of gratitude. That debt will 
always be unextinguishable ; but it is a pleasing re- 
flection, that we have manifested our feelings — so let 
us in this case openly avow our intentions in making 
this grant, by adopting the substitute, and glory in the 
avowal. 



PROCEEDINGS. €3 

Mr. Tallmadge said, no discussion he had ever 
witnessed, in any deliberative assembly, had excited 
in him such painful emotions as this. The character 
of this debate, said he, is calculated to reflect no hon- 
our on this house, or on the state. He had fondly 
hoped, the merits of this bill would have been duly 
appreciated, and that it would have passed by a si- 
lent vote — that whilst we thus adapted our proceed- 
ings to the solemnity of the occasion, the state would 
be saved from a debate so derogatory to its exalted 
character. 

Having gone thus far, said Mr. T., the question is, 
not how we shall discharge our du,ty with most hon- 
our, but with the least disparagement, to ourselves 
and the people whom we represent. By our pro- 
ceedings a stain has been given to the fair fame of the 
state, which cannot easily be wiped away, but which 
he hoped, the result would not render indelible. 

It has been my lot, said Mr. T., to be ranked 
amongst the political opponents of De Witt Chnton 
— but whilst I have censured, what I conceived the 
aberrations of his political course, I have never failed 
to award the meed of praise to his pre-eminent talents, 
and the important services he has rendered to his 
country. He had his imperfections in pohtical life, 
as every man in an elevated pubhc station has, who 
has identified himself with a party. These faults and 
frailties are buried with him, and we are bound to 
cherish the fame and the name he has left behind. 



64 LEGISLATIVE 

The violent, party aspect, which this debate has as- 
sumed, is attributed by the gentleman from Herkimer 
(Mr. Mann) to the friends of the bill. I appeal, said 
Mr. T. to the candour of every gentleman of this 
house, whether this political discussion was not pro- 
voked by the opponents of this measure. It was not 
until party spirit obtruded her unhallowed footsteps, 
on this sacred ground, that the gentleman from Al- 
bany (Mr. Butler) was compelled to make the elo- 
quent appeal he did, to the party feelings of the house 
— which would have been ill-timed under other cir- 
cumstances, and which he himself, without such pro- 
vocation, would not have made. 

It is also said by the gentleman from Herkimer, 
that the people do not call for the passage of this bill. 
I know not, said Mr. T., what opportunity that gentle- 
man has had to ascertain public sentiment. Since 
the melancholy event which we so much deplore, the 
pubhc papers received from the remotest corners of 
the state are clad in mourning, and bear ample testi- 
mony of the feeling which pervades this whole com- 
munity, and are the strongest evidence of the satisfac- 
tion with which the passage of this bill would be hail- 
ed, by a great, a generous, a magnanimous people. 
In regard to the district of country where he resided, 
Mr. T. said he Avas enabled to speak from personal 
observation. He was home when this event happen- 
ed. The news of Mr. Clinton's death was felt like an 
electric shock. Every heart beat in unison with your 



PROCEEDINGS. 65 

own, when the account was received of the measures 
you had adopted to pay the last sad tribute to his 
memory. The mtroduction of this bill was also an- 
nounced, and every man, without distinction of party, 
applauded no less, the generosity, than the promptness 
of the act. 

It is deeply to be regretted, said Mr. T., that any 
gentleman should feel himself constrained, from a 
sense of duty, to oppose the passage of this bill; but 
it is still more to be regretted, that gentlemen who 
agree with us in the propriety, nay, the necessity of 
making provision for the minor children of the late 
governor, should still differ as to the mode of doing it. 
What matters it, whether it be for his eminent public 
services in general, or whether we take the services 
and the time whilst he was canal cummisioner, as a 
mere guide for the amount which we propose to give. 
Let us not be deterred from this by the consideration 
that it may be a reflection on those who removed him 
from that office in 1824. There may have been at 
that time reasons satisfactory to them for such remo- 
val. Mr. T. said he had friends in that legislature 
near and dear to him, who co-operated in that mea- 
sure. That he would be the last to arraign their mo- 
tives or censure their conduct; hut in justice to him- 
self he felt bound to say, that he openly and unequivo- 
cally disapproved the act at the time, and he was still 
satisfied that it was ill-judged, improper and unjust. 

There seems, says Mr., T. to be a variety of opin 



66 LEGISLATIVE 

ions jas to the nature of the services which have beea 
rendered by Mr. Chnton. Whilst all agree that the 
state has received incalculable benefits from his per- 
sonal exertions, and the influence of his great name; 
yet some entertain tlie idea, that his services must be 
reduced to a legered account, and presented in such 
a legal or equitable shape, that the claim could be en- 
forced against the state, if the state could be implead- 
ed. Although we owe to Mr. Clinton a debt we can 
never pay, and although the proposed appropriation 
will fall infinitely short of liquidating that debt, still I 
do not deem it in the technical sense, a legal or equitable 
claim against the state. Neither is it necessary to 
the argument that it should be. Shall we be unjust, 
because we are beyond the reach of law 1 Shall we 
fail to discharge the obligations we are under, because 
they cannot legally be enforced against us 1 Shall we 
abandon the endearing maxims of private life, and 
disregard tlie precepts of that religion under which 
we live, which teach us to be just, without reference to 
the means which the law provides to enforce their 
observance? Shall we, on entering this hall, lay 
aside the finer feelings of tlie man, and assume the 
cold and calculating poHcy of the legislator l Shall 
we do it on this melancholy occasion, one of all others 
calculated to arouse the feelings and awaken the sen- 
sibihty of every one 'I No sir, I cannot graduate my 
feelings, nor my sense of justice by such a standard. 
I feel bound to express the will of my constituents ; 



PROCEEDINGS. 67 

and convinced as I am, of the unanimity of senti- 
ment which pervades this whole state, I cannot for a 
moment hesitate in giving my vote and my feeble sup- 
port to this measure. 

But, it has been asked, what is the nature of this 
obligation against the state 1 I will tell you, said Mr. 
T., the nature of it. It is like that claim, which 
the officers of the Revolution, tottering on the verge 
of the grave, are presenting to the congress of the 
United States — a claim for services rendered at the 
most trying period of our history, and which estab- 
lished the independence we now enjoy : and without 
which, we should not, at this time be sitting in judg- 
ment upon services scarcely less meritorious — claims 
like the present, which could not legally be enforced 
against the government, but " such as are founded 
upon the immutable principles of justice." The ob- 
ligations we are under to Mr. Clinton, are like those 
in private life. They arise not from contract. They 
are elevated above all pecuniary consideration. They 
have their origin in the reciprocal wants and kindness 
of our nature. They can be enforced by no human 
laws — and still we feel their binding influence, beyond 
all legal obhgations. They are the obligations of 
gratitude. We have all felt them, and for one, said 
Mr. T., I am not ashamed to confess, that I still feel 
them — and palsied be this arm, and blistered be this 
tongue, if I ever cancel them by any indirection, 
Such, sir, is the nature of the obligation which rests 



68 LEGISLATIVE. 

upon this state, and which we are now called upon 
not to cancel, but to recognise by paying this scanty 
pittance to the orphan children of him, who has con- 
ferred such lasting benefits upon us. 

When, said Mr, T., we call upon the justice of the 
legislature, we might safely rest that call upon the in- 
trinsic merits of the claim. The force with which 
the present claim presents itself cannot be resisted if 
we listen to our own sense of justice and obey the 
impulses of our own feelings, which are but a faint 
echo of those which agitate the people of this state. 
At such a time as this it is unnecessary and idle to 
search for precedents. But, if gentlemen deem them 
essential, to remove any remaining scruples from 
their minds, enough are at hand — and those too, under 
our own government — the rewards for distinguished 
and extraordinary services, free from the odious 
character of pensions, as they exist in foreign gov- 
ernments, and to which this appropriation has been 
attempted to be assimilated. Mr. T. said, that in ad- 
dition to the liberality of congi-ess towards the widow 
of the late lamented Hamilton, and the recent appro- 
priation to the widow of the gallant Decatur, which 
had been alluded to by other gentlemen, he would call 
the attention of the house to the case of Baron Steu- 
ben, to whom congress, in 1790, in consideration of 
his " sacrifices and eminent services" granted an 
annuity of twenty-five hundred dollars during life — 
to the act to indemnify the estate of the late Major- 



PROCEEDING&. 69 

general Greene, against a bond on which he was 
surety for 8,688 pounds sterling — to the act giving a 
liberal donation to the representatives of Col. George 
Gibson, " for tlie use and benefit of his heirs," for ex- 
traordinary services by him rendered to the United 
States in 1776 — to the case of Arnold Henry Dorh- 
man, for his " faithful and generous services as agent 
from the United States to the court of Lisbon ;" where 
congress allowed for his disbursements about $5,800, 
although, as recited in the act, there was a " deficiency 
of vouchers" for the same — but "congress being 
disposed to acknowledge in the most honourable 
manner his eminent servdceiit," gi'anted him a complete 
and entire township of land. This, the gentleman 
from Herkimer will perceive, was for civil services — 
and the reason, why the instances of rewards for 
such services exclusively are not more frequent is, 
that at the time those important and extraordinaiy 
services were rendered, the eminent men by whom 
they were rendered, combined the character of the 
soldier and the statesman together. In all the cases 
above alluded to, there was no legal or equitable 
claim, which could be enforced against the govern- 
ment. They were claims, however, upon the justice 
of congress, and were appropriated and allowed as 
such. 

If, said Mr. T., we do not find in these acts of con- 
gress, sufficient authority for the bill under considera- 
tion, let us boldly establish a precedent m the present 

G 



To LEGISLATIVE 

case : let it remain of record for the benelit of those 
that live after us. Gentlemen need not be alarmed 
that the precedent will be a dangerous one. With 
the exception of the illustrious Lafayette, there has 
not been an instance during the last century of such 
eminent services as the present, calling for remunera- 
tion in the hour of sorrow and of need ; nor have we 
any reason to believe that the century to come, will 
produce its parallel. They are, 

"Like angel visits, few and far between.'' 

Pass this bill, said Mr. T., and shew to an admiring^ 
world that you appreciate the services of your great 
men ; that you venerate their names ; that all political 
asperities are hid in the grave that covers them ; and 
when the future statesman, ambitious of that lasting 
fame which public services confer, is devoting the 
best energies of his mind to advance the great and 
permanent interests of his country, let not his high 
and holy aspirations be stifled by the painful reflec- 
tion, that for all this, his children shall become penny- 
less and inherit nought but poverty and the ingrati- 
tude of that country. 

Mr. Edgerton said he i-egretted extremely the 
course this debate had taken, and he felt himself called 
upon, as the chairman who reported the bill, to ex- 
press his views, as concisely as possible, as to the 
grounds which it is intended to embrace. It appeai-s 



PROCEEDINGS. 71 

to me, sir, said Mr. E., that gentlemen take too narrow 
and too limited a survey in discussing a subject of 
this nature. What, sir, are our fleets and our navies, 
our armies and our fortresses of defence, unless man- 
ned and garrisoned by hearts warmed with a spirit of 
freedom, and with arms nerved with a love of their 
country? In vain should we hope for the liberty of 
the republic, the perpetuity of our free institutions, 
were it not for public spirit, and a devotion of the 
best energies of the mind of our public men to the 
good and to the welfare of their country, I stand not 
here as the eulogist of any man : such is not my bu- 
siness as a member upon this floor. But, sir, I am 
the last man in this house, vrho will not award to De 
Witt Chnton all that is his due; his elevated character 
attracts the attention of this state, and his fame has 
gone forth to our common country ; and to his public 
reputation are we bound to award the meed of praise. 
That public spirit, which this bill is intended to foster, 
to cherish, and to raise, is what I would hope to ac- 
complish by voting for this proposition. With me it 
even is of little consequence whether these fatherless 
children, named in this bill, are in affluence or wan- 
dering in the pathway of want — in comparison with 
the importance of pubhc spirit and the capacity to 
execute pubhc trusts. To De Witt Chnton, all (both 
the friends of the substitute offered by the gentleman 
from Erie, and the friends of the original bill) concede 
talents, prominent, and of the first order. What, sir, 



72 LEGISLATIVE PROCEEDINGS. 

let me ask, prevented him from enriching himseli out 
of 3^our pubhc treasury had he been so disposed, dur- 
ing the length of time he has been in public life? How 
was it with our Washington? did he not only refuse 
any reward for his services while employed in public 
life? How was it with Jefferson, after a long hfe de- 
voted to public service? did he not die poor? Talk 
not to me of dollars and cents ; if reputation in pubhc 
life is in question, the value of it to our countiy is past 
compensation, and with me is of far more consequence 
than the sum proposed to be given by this bill. The 
children named in this bill, may have talents, and 
energy of mind, to rise above all pecuniary considera- 
tions, and make their way to the temple of fame. — 
With them, therefore, it may be of little^ comparatively 
little importance, whether this bill pass or not. But, 
sir, when I look at the broad principle which this bill 
embraces, I lose sight of these children, and of the 
name of the father, great and splendid as it is. Pass 
this bill, and what do you say to our country? Pass 
this bill in either of the forms contemplated, and you 
say with an emphasis, to every successive governor of 
your state, " Go thmi and do likewisey Encourage 
this principle in your ]:)ublic oflicers, and our country 
is safe. You, by this bill, may call from the mine, 
gems, and the diamond yet unpolished, to .^hine in 
your chair of state. 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 73 

Before the question upon the final passage of this 
bill was taiten, the speaker, General Root, decided 
that its passage required the assent of two-thirds of 
all the members elected, before it could become a 
law. This decision cttused the defeat of the bill ; for 
there was not a constitutional majority in its favour 
upon the final question. 

The intelligence of the failure of this bill spread 
rapidly, and a voice of murmuring and disapprobation 
was heard from every section of the state. The 
measure was condemned in every pubhc journal, and 
the following have been selected, to shew the pubHc 
sentiment. 



.^.i.^^..^^ 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 

From the New- York Gazette. 

Our readers will no doubt observe with regret that 
the house of Assembly has rejected the bill for the 
relief of the minor children of om^ late Governor Clin- 
ton. From the vote in the committee of the whole, it 
was confidently expected and certainly desired that 
this bill should have become a law. It is not our pur- 



74 PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 

pose to question the motives of those who opposed 
it, but at the same time we are satisfied that their con- 
stituents will cause them to feel their dissatisfaction. 
The energetic and disinterested exertions of Mr. Clin- 
ton, in bringing the Erie Canal to a successful com- 
pletion, are worthy of all praise, and certainly merit 
some mark of approbation from the legislature. 

f)rom the New-York Evening Post. 

We regret to learn that the bill making provision for 
the payment of certain sums of money to the minor 
heirs of Governor Clinton, has met with an un- 
looked for and determined opposition from a part of 
the Assembly. One of the principal arguments 
brought against it by its opposers, is that it will 
amount to a vote of censure upon the conduct of 
those who removed Mr. Clinton from his office of ca- 
nal commissioner in 1824. As to the removal of Mr. 
Clinton in 1824, the pubhc will never think differently 
of it from what tliey did at the time, and from what 
they do now, whatever may be done with the bill in 
question. A new mark of ingratitude will not efface 
the stain of the old. His removal was against the 
public feeling at the period, and that feeling was de- 
clared immediately afterwards, in a manner not to be 
forgotten. The public feeling now calls for the pass- 
ing of the law before the Assembly, and we hope that 
it will not again be trifled with and disobeyed. 



i 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 75 

From, the Rochester Republican. 

The bill to authorize certain payments to the chil- 
dren of the late chief magistrate has been rejected — 
rejected by the representatives, contrary to the univer- 
sal and fervent prayers, of a people rich in the blessed 
fruits of his glorious career. The failure of a propo- 
sition for a statue or a monument — though monuments 
and statues were freely reared to perpetuate the glory 
of their benefactors, by republics w^hose names are 
nevertheless synonimous w^ith ingratitude — would be 
mitigated by the consideration of his fame being inde- 
pendent of such frail auxiliaries — co-eternal with the 
hills traversed by the canals, with the cities springing 
up on tlieir borders, and with the celebrity which both 
united have conferred on the state. 

"The lowliest rill, the mightiest river. 
Rolls mingling with his fame forever." 

— But to see the children, whose welfare was sliglited 
in a zeal for the general good — who might have rolled 
in wealth and luxury, had their sire directed the ener- 
gies of his mighty mind to the pursuit of private wealth 
and emolument, rather than to the advancement and 
glory of his native state — to see these spurned, and 
denied the pittance due by the strongest rules of jus- 
tice, is revolting alike to honour and generosity, and 
unworthy of the state and age we live in. The spirit 
of our institutions is essentially economical, and we 
rejoice at the general vigilance in guarding the public 
coffers ; but the best of causes may be carried to ex- 



76 PUBLIC SENTIMENT, 

cess, and economy itself degenerate into parsimony. 
Is it consistent with reason or religion to deny suc- 
cour to those who have neglected themselves in their 
anxiety to serve us? And what inducement is there 
for virtue, genius and patriotism, to spend their 
meridian vigour in advancing the prosperity of man- 
kind, if poverty is to be their own lot in decrepitude, 
and loant the companion of their offspring? 

lYorn the Utica Intelligencer. 

The merits of Governor Chnton's character are 
now beyond the reach of party prejudice or personal 
mahgnity. The theatre of his fame is too extensive 
that we should entertain any apprehension lest the 
efforts of a ferocious politician should circumscribe 
or diminish it. The industry of a few obscure and 
intolerant partisans may arrest the pittance which a 
majority of the house would have afforded to his indi- 
gent children, but they cannot sully the purity of his 
character, nor detract from the impressive testimony 
which our public works, our literary and charitable 
foundations bear alike to his talents and patriotism. 
Our feelings are more painfully excited by the reflec- 
tion that death should afford no protection against 
the virulence of party. A tenderness for the dead, 
we hold to be dictated alike by humanity and rehgion, 
and when this is violated, we deem it no unerring 
criterion that the head and the heart of the offender 
are alike unsound. As a citizen of the state of New- 



PUBLIC SEIV'TIMENT. / 1 

York we are mortified that an act of justice towards 
a distinguished benefactor should be thwarted. 

From the Poughkeepsle Journal. 

The bill before the Assembly to pay the minor chil- 
dren of De Witt Chnton, the salary of canal commis- 
sioner for the time he held that otiice, has been lost ; 
and we say lost, for there is little hope of its passing 
in any shape, when the house have refused to pass it 
in that shape which was most consistent with its own 
dignity, most grateful to his offspring, and most ac- 
eeptable to the people of the state. Clinton had been 
a commissioner from the first, without fee or reward ; 
he had devoted Inmself to that service with a tidelity, 
devotion, capacity and usefulness which no other 
man could have rendered. 

We all hailed the measure with exultation, and sup- 
posed that the bill would have passed with that silent 
unanimity^ which marks entire and sacred approba- 
tion, and which would have so nobly become the 
righteous benefaction. 

From the Cayuga Patriot. 

The bill, reported in Assembly, for compensating 
the services of our deceased governor in relation to 
the canals, by an allowance to his minor children, has 
met with unexpected obstacles. We were politically 
opposed to De Witt Clinton, and had he remained 
Avith us, and in the field of politics, might probably 



78 PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 

have found ourselves again in the field against him. 
Still he was a great man, and doubtless rendered the 
people of this state important services, especially in 
relation to internal improvements. He was not an 
acting commissioner, but shall we suppose that the 
researches of his mind, and his time and attention, 
were not devoted to those great works, in which his 
name stands, and will stand, inseparably connected 1 
And if so, may he not have rendered as useful servi- 
ces as any other commissioner '? We presume he 
did, and justice requires that such services should be 
compensated. Indeed, the prosperity of the state 
would be advanced, and the interests of the people 
promoted, by always rewarding those who bring for- 
ward salutary and useful improvements. We hope 
the bill will pass, in some shape. We consider it an 
act of magnanimity and justice, that will be creditable 
to the legislature, to the state, and to the country. 
What, though the lamented Tompkins was treated 
with ingratitude and cruelty ! shall we therefore per- 
secute the bereaved family, and unprotected, unprovid- 
ed orphans of De Witt Clinton? 

From the Buffalo Journal. 

Thus has fallen to the ground the offering of the 
legislature of this state, to the memory and services 
of one of her greatest benefactors ! There is a hope 
— but, after what has passed, it is faint and withering 
— that the bill may yet pass. New objections will 



Pl/BLIC SENTIMENT. 79 

arise, and, in such a case, there is no end to the 
fastidious scruples of members. As it now stands, 
the character of the act is destroyed— the bahn which 
it was intended to pour into the bosom of the family 
of the deceased, has been turned to gall, and there 
remains only the disgrace of having refused to do 
justice, when duty, the voice of the whole state, clear- 
ly sanctioned the proposition. 

The memory of CLINTON is embalmed in the 
hearts of his fellow citizens, and there it cannot be 
reached by the petty malice of relentless opponents. 

From the Greene County Republican. 

It is certainly to be regretted, for the honour of the 
state, that any opposition should have been made to 
the passage of the bill ; and more so, that such op- 
position should have been raised by such unholy 
means. We had indulged hopes of better things^ 
from the representatives of a magnanimous and grate- 
ful people, whose spontaneous voice would have 
sanctioned any thing within the bounds of reason, to 
secure from the vortex of want the family of De Witt 
Chnton. The defeat of this bill will tell rather bad in 
history, that the just and equitable claims of the fami- 
ly of the greatest public benefactor of the age, were 
coldly rejected, by that country whose coffers he iiad 
filled, and whose glory he had advanced, by a life ably 
and successfully devoted to its mterests. 



80 PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 

From the Boston American Traveller. 

We learn with surprise, what we httle expected to 
find in the public acts of the large and enlightened 
state of New- York— another evidence of the ingrati- 
tude of republics, which has for ages been proverbial. 
The house of Assembly has thus far been successful 
in its attempts to defeat the passage of the bill direct- 
ing certain payments to be made to the minor chil- 
dren of De Witt Chnton. Surely this is a proceed- 
ing which their constituents can never approve. 
Nothing, we should suppose, could be more proper, 
?ind agreeable to the feelings of the citizens, than for 
the state, in some such way as this, publicly to recog- 
nise the services of her most distinguished benefactor. 

Shortly after the defeat of the bill, a motion ica,s made 
to reconsider the vote taken upon its final passage^ lohich 
was concurred in unanimously. The object \vas to recon- 
cile the opinions and views of members who differed upon 
the policy and propriety of the 2d section of the bill. 

General P. B. Porter moved to strike out the whole 
of the second section of the bill, and insert in lieu 
thereof, as follows : 

§ 2. In consideration of the eminent services ren- 
dered to the people of this state, by the said De VV itt 

Clinton, the further sum of thousand dollars, is 

hereby granted and appropriated to the use of the 
said minor children, to be paid out of the treasury, on 
the waiTant of the comptroller. 



FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS. 81 

The bill thus amended was agreed to by the house by a 
vote of 88 to 27, and the blank filled witli ten thousand 
dollars. 



rUNXSRAXi ARRANGEMZSNTS. 



CORPORATION OF ALBANY. 

A SPECIAL meeting of the board Avas held yesterday 
afternoon at 5 o'clock. The mayor addressed the 
meeting as follows : 

Gentlemen — The melancholy event that has induc- 
ed me to call this special meeting, is already known 
to you all. The death of Governor Chnton, which 
occurred last evening, is a public calamity. 

I presume I have merely anticipated your wishes in 
affording an opportunity publicly to express our grief 
on this solemn occasion, and to sympathize with his 
family, his friends, and our fellow-citizens, in their 
great affliction. 

The recorder then offered the following resolutions, 
which were unanimously adopted : 

The death of Governor Chnton having deprived 
the nation of one of its most eminent citizens, our 
state of a public benefactor, and this city of a benevo- 
lent inhabitant, who was endeared to us as well by a 

H 



82 FUNERAL 

sense of his public usefulness, as by the knowledge 
of his private virtues, and the ties of social inter- 
course — 

The Common Council of the city of Albany, under 
the dispensation of providence, deeply deploring the 
death of Governor Chnton as a pubUc calamity, and 
sympathizing with the afflicted family and relations of 
the deceased, 

Resolve, — 

That this board will conform to such arrangements 
as may be made by the committees of the two 
branches of the. legislature, and will attend the funeral 
on Thursday next, at 2 o'clock P. M. with its officers, 
wearing the usual badge of mourning, and continue 
to wear the same for thirty days. 

That the several religious, literary and charitable 
societies in the city, be requested to unite with the 
municipal and state authorities, in paying the last 
ti'ibute of respect to the deceased. 

That the bells of the churches in the city be tolled 
during the moving of the procession. 

That it be recommended to the citizens generally, 
to close their usual places of busness during the time 
of the funeral solemnities. 

A meeting of the members of tlie bar of this city, was 
held in the supreme court room, yesterday after- 
noon, at 4 o'clock, occasioned by the death of 
Grovernor Clinton. 



ARRANGEMENTS. S3 

Abraham Van Vechten was appointed chairman, 
and Harmanus Bleecker secretary. 

The chairman having in a very feehng manner 
stated the object of the meeting, the following resolu- 
tion was unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That the members of the bar of this city, 
deeply impressed by the sudden and afflictive death 
of the governor of this state, and condoling with his 
family and the community at large, will unite with their 
fellow-citizens in manifestations of respect for his 
memory and regret for the public loss, attend the 
funeral, and wear the usual badge of mourning. 

CIRCUIT COURT. 

At the opening of the Circuit Court and Court of Oyer 
and Terminer for the county of Albany, at the usual 
hour yesterday morning. Judge Duer observed, that 
" the calamity whicli had befallen the state and coun- 
try, in the sudden death of Governor Clinton, since 
the adjournment of the court, would necessarily sus- 
pend its proceedings, from respect both to his office 
as chief magistrate, and to his character as an individ- 
ual. The court was induced by a conviction of duty^ 
as well as by an impulse of feeling, to arrest the pro- 
gress of the business before them, on so awful and 
melancholy an event ; attended as it was by circum- 
stances which have impressed them more deeply with 
a sense both of the loss to the public, and oi^ the 
bereavement and afflictions of his friends; and whilst 



84 FUNERAL 

they were aware that an immediate adjournment 
would be attended with some inconvenience, both to 
the gentlemen of the bar and to the suitors in attend- 
ance, yet the court presumed that the sacrifice would 
be readily yielded as a portion of the tribute due to 
tlie memory of the deceased." 

The following order was thereupon directed to be 
entered on the minutes of both courts : 

"In consequence of the death ofDE WITT CLIN- 
TON, late governor of this state, and from respect to 
his memory: 

'' Ordered, That this court do now adjourn sine 
die.'' 

And both the courts were adjourned accordingly. 

At a meeting of the citizens of Albany, at the Capitol 
on the evening of the 12th of Fcbruar}'^, 1828, Isai- 
ah TowNSEND, Esq. was called to the chair, and 
Thomas W. Olcott, Esq. was chosen secretary. 
The following preamble and resolutions, were 
unanimously adopted. 

The citizens of Albany, having learnt with unfeign- 
ed sorrow, the sudden and lamented deoth of his 
Excellency DE WITT CLINTON, and assembling 
together to testify the respect they owe to the memory 
of his exalted talents and eminent services, do resolve 
as follows : 

That they sincerely deplore the severe and afflic- 
tive loss, sustained not only by the state, but the na- 



ARRANGEMENTS. 85 

tion. This distinguished statesman and accomplish- 
ed scholar, after devoting more than thirty years to 
the public good, as the firm and decided patron of the 
arts, the warm and zealous friend of science, and the 
powerful advocate and supporter of internal improve- 
ments, of education, and of virtue, is now no more. 
His public and private worth are identified with the 
history of his country, and will endure, as long as pa- 
triotism and freedom preserve their influence over this 
happy land. 

That they condole witli his family, relatives and 
connexions, in this painful and mysterious dispensa- 
tion of divine providence, by which they have lost an 
affectionate relative and an illustrious benefactor. 

That we will abstain from our usual avocations 
during the day on which his funeral obsequies shall 
be solemnized, and that they will close their stores 
and shops. 

That they will wear the usual badge of mourning 
on the left arm, on that day. 

That a committee, consi:.>iting of three persons, from 
each ward, be appointed to confer with such other 
committees, as are, or shall be appointed by the legis- 
lature, the corporation, the bar, the military, or other 
public bodies, to make arrangements for attending the 
fimeral of the deceased, and to adopt such other mea- 
sures as sho.ll be suitable to the occasion. 



H* 



86 FiflSEHAL 

UNION COLLEGE. 

The Phi Beta Kappa Society met yesterday, and 
adopted the following : 

Whereas Almighty God, by depriving the state of 
New-York of its late chief magistrate, has deprived 
our seminaries of learning of one of their most wake- 
ful guardians and devoted benefactors : and whereas 
the memory of DE WITT CLINTON, the abiding 
friend of this institution, is justly endeared to all its of- 
ficers and members, and especially to the members of 
this society, of which he was one of the brightest 
ornaments — 

Thereupon resolved. That we mingle our heart-felt 
sorrows at his untimely death, with the sorrows of his 
family, of his friends, and of that bereaved community, 
which thus smitten by the hand of providence, is clad 
in mourning, and overwhelmed with one common 
sentiment of grief. 

MASONIC. 

The Master Masons in the city of Albany and visit- 
ing brethren, are requested to meet at the Masonic 
Hall, this afternoon, at one o'clock, to pay the last 
tribute of respect to De Witt Clinton, Past Grand 
Master of the Grand Lodge of the State of New -York. 

The Royal Arch Masons will meet at the same 
time and place, to pay the last tribute to De Witt 
Clinton, General Grand High Priest of the General 
Grand Chapter of the United States. 



ARRANGEMENTS. 87 

The Knight Templars will meet at their Encamp- 
ment, and then proceed to give the last honours to De 
Witt Clinton, Grand Master of the Grand Encamp- 
ment of the State of New- York, and General Grand 
Commander of the General Grand Encampment of 
the United States. 

At a special meeting of the Albany Institute, held in 
the hall of the society, the vice-president having com- 
municated to the society the death of De Witt Clinton, 
one of its honorary members, the following resolu- 
tions were proposed and unanimously adopted. 

Resolved, That in common with our fellow citizens 
of the state and nation, we lament the death of DE 
WITT CLINTON, late governor of this state. 

Resolved, That as humble members of a vast com- 
munity throughout the civilized world, whose efforts 
are directed to the advancement and diffusion of 
science, we deeply deplore the loss which our com- 
mon cause has sustained in the death of one of its 
most distinguished patrons and successful cultivators. 

Resolved, That as a faint tribute of respect to the 
memory of the illustrious dead, we will attend the 
funeral and wear the usual badge of mourning for 
thirty days. 

Resolved, That we will cause a marble tablet, with 
an appropriate inscription, to be placed in the hall of 
the society, in hor.our of our distinguished member. 



88 FUNERAL 

STATE OF NEW-YORK— GENERAL ORDER. 

Head- Quarters^ Albany^ Feb. 12, 1828. 

The commander in chief having received the mel- 
ancholy intelhgence of the decease of the late com- 
mander in chief, his Excellency De Witt Chnton, and 
being desirous of manifesting all proper respect to 
the memory of a distinguished statesman and citizen, 
w^ho has so long filled that high office, has deemed it 
suitable to the occasion to direct the following ar- 
rangements to be observed at the funeral obsequies 
of the deceased, and by the militia of the state, late 
under his command. 

The usual badge of mourning, consisting of crape 
on the left arm, and on the sword hilt, w ill be Avorn 
by all officers in commission until after the next annu- 
al inspection and review of their respective corps. 

The company of artillery, throughout the state, 
having a field piece, will fire a gun at every half hour, 
from 12 o'clock until sunset of the day next succeed- 
ing the receipt of the intelhgence of the decease of the 
late commander in chief. 

At the capital a gun will be fired on Thursday next, 
the day of the funeral of the deceased, at every half 
hour, beginning at sunrise, and ending when the pro- 
cession moves, and minute guns thereafter, until t'ne 
funeral obsequies are closed. 

The mihtary of the city and county of Albany, and 
its vicinity, wall appear on the day of the funeral, and: 
such part as may be detailed, will act as an escort to 



ARRANGEMENTS. 89 

attend the remains of the deceased. All officers, not 
on duty, will join in the procession in uniform with 
side arms and the usual badge of mourning. 

Brigadier-general Cooper, of the horse artillery, 
will command the escort, and make such arrange- 
ments as may be deemed necessary on this solemn 
occasion. 

The commissary-general, and keepers of miUtary 
stores, will provide the necessary ammunition. 

The commander in chief feels satisfied that the 
militia of this state will unite with cheerfulness and 
zeal in these solemn demonstrations of respect to the 
memory of the deceased. In rendering due honour 
to the illustrious dead, we not only reward distin- 
guished merit and services, but excite to new and 
continued displays of patriotism and public spirit. 

By order of the commander in chief, 

N. F. BECK, Adjt. Gen. 

STATE OF NEW-YORK. 

THIRD BRIGADE OF HORSE ARTILLERY. 

Head- Quarters J Albany^ Feb. 12, 1828. 
Brigadier-general Cooper, in comphance with the 
foregoing general orders, hereby directs that the troops 
and companies therein du-ected to constitute an es- 
cort to attend the funeral of the late commiuider in 
chief, assemble completely armed and equipped with 
the usual badges of mourning, on Thursday the 14th 
instant, at 2 o'clock A. M. in State-street, 



90 FUNERAL 

Major Webster will direct their formation into line, 
with the right on Eagie-street, as they move on the 
ground, and will be obeyed accordingly. 

Major Gibbons will detail from his corps, a suita- 
ble detachment, with their field pieces and ammunition, 
who will be stationed on Robison's hill, to fire half- 
hour guns, from sunrise until the moving of the fu- 
neral procession, after which minute guns during the 
continuance of the obsequies. 

Major Gibbons will make the necessary requisitions 
upon the commissary-general, to enable him to com- 
ply herewith. 

By order, 

J. I. KING, Aid-de-camp. 

FUNERAL OF GOVERNOR CLINTON. 

Pursuant to the arrangements previously made un- 
der the direction of the legislature, the funeral of the 
late Governor Chnton took place on Tliursday last. 

The day was ushered in, at sunrise, by the dis- 
charge of cannon, which was repeated every half 
hour until sunset. 

The two houses of the legislature convened at 1 
o'clock P. M. and after a short sitting, proceeded in a 
body to the mansion of the deceased. The state officers, 
the clergy of tlie city, the pall bearers, the relatives of 
the deceased, his present and late military family, and 
several other gentlemen were also assembled at the 
same place. The dwellings of Mrs. Van Schaick, 



ARRANGEMENTS, 91 

iirid of Messrs. Brown, Dudley, Wheaton, Davis, El- 
men dorf, James and Westerlo, were also most oblig- 
ingly opened for the accommodation of the corpora- 
tion of the city, the members of the bar, and other so- 
cieties. 

The citizens of Albany were assembled in great 
numbers at the consistory-room of the North Dutch 
Church ; whilst the side walk and street, from the re- 
sidence of Governor Clinton to State-street, were fill- 
ed by the inhabitants of this county, and the adjoining 
counties. 

Immediately after 2 o'clock, a solemn and most 
appropriate address to the Throne of Grace, was 
made by the Rev. Dr. Ludlow, who was invited, in 
the absence of Dr. Chester, to whose congregation 
the governor was attached, to perform that duty. The 
coffin was then placed in the hearse, and the solemn 
knell, vrhich announced the forming of the procession, 
resounded from all quarters of the city. 

The procession moved in the following order, un- 
der the firing of minute guns, which continued until 
the close of the solemnities. 

The mihtary escort, consisting of — 

The ninth regiment of riflemen, under Col. Taylor. 

A battahon of light infantry, under Lieutenant-colo- 
nel Bhankland. Commandants of companies. Cap- 
tains Fry and Groesbeeck. To tliis battalion was at- 
tached three companies of Ught infantry from Gib- 
bonsville and Troy. 



92 FUNERAL 

A battalion of artillery, under the command of Major 
Gibbons. Commandants of companies, Captains 
Thomas and Preston. 

A squadron of horse artillery, under Lieutenant^ 
colonel Van Schaick. Commandants of companies, 
Captains Green and Fuller. 

A squadron of the third brigade of horse artillery, 
under the command of Colonel Consaul. Com- 
mandants of companies, Major Winne and Captain 
Brandon. 

The whole under the command of Brigadier-general 
Cooper, accompanied by his staff. 

The clergy of the city and the attending physicians, 
with scarves. 

The Hearse, covered by a superb canopy, and 
drawn by four white horses, their heads decorated 
witli black plumes and their harness trimmed with 
crape. The horses were led by grooms properly 
habited. ' . 

The following gendemen, in scarves, as PALL 
BEARERS. General Bogardus, Mr. Crary, Mr. 
Ellsworth and Mr. Wilkeson, of the Senate — Mr. 
Bucklin, Mr. Scudder, General Montross, Mr. Wil- 
liams, Mr. Breese and General Brinkerhotf, of the 
Assembly. Chief Justice Savage, Judge Sutherland, 
the Secretary of State Mr. Flagg, the Comptroller Mr. 
Marcy, and Messrs. J. D. P. Douw and WiUiam James. 
The Military Association, as an escort to the pall 
bearers. 



ARRANGEMENTS. 93 

The relatives of the deceased and of his family, in 
carriages. Among tliem were the venerable John 
Tayler, late lieutenant-governor, Chief Justice Spen- 
cer, Chancellor Jones, Judge Woodworth, Judge 
Duer, and other gentlemen of distinction. 

The present and late military family of the com- 
mander in chief, also as mourners. 

The joint committee of arrangements, in scarves. 

The Senate, preceded by its officers, the president 
with a scarf. 

The Assembly, preceded by its officers, the speaker 
with a scarf. 

The attorney-general and treasurer of the state, the 
canal commissioners, and other state officers. 

Governor Van Ness, of Vermont, and other stran- 
gers specially invited. 

The Common Council of the city of Albany, and 
their officers. 

The judicial and executive officers of the county 
of Albany. 

The members of the bar, with their distinguished 
senior, Abraham Van Vechten, at their head. 

Knights Templiirs, with their banner. 

Master Masons. 

Royal Arch Masons, with their officers in full dress. 

Present and past grand officers of the Grand Chap- 
ter of the State of New-York, in full dress. 

Members of the fraternity, to the number of 500, 

with the insignia of the order. 

I 



94 FUNERAL 

The faculty of Union College, preceded by their 
president, Dr. Nott, robed in a scarf; and the Phi 
Beta Kappa Society of that college. 

The St. Andrew's Society, with their badges. 

The officers and members of the Albany County 
Sunday School Union Societ}'. 

The fire departments, consisting of several compa- 
nies, with their banners, the whole under the direction 
of Allen Brown, as marshal. 

The masters of vessels and steam-boats. 

The students at law. 

The citizens of Albany, preceded by the several 
ward committees. 

Citizens of the adjoining counties. 

The procession moved through North Pearl, Co- 
lumbia, North Market, State and Washington-streets, 
to the place of sepulture, where the military escort 
opened to the right and left, through which the hearse, 
followed by the relatives and other mourners, and by 
such of the procession as circumstances would per- 
mit, proceeded to the vault. The mortal remains of 
De Witt Clinton were then deposited in the "nar- 
row house;" military honours were paid to them, and 
the procession dismissed at half past four. 

Thus terminated the funeral honours decreed by the 
representatives of the people of New-York, to her dis- 
tinguished son. 

The day was not inappropriate to the occasion; 
the sky wrapped in clouds, and the cold damp atmos 



ARRANGEMENTS. 95 

pbere, harmonized with the solemn duties to which it 
was devoted. The utmost regularity was observed 
throughout ; and the early hour at which the solemni- 
ties terminated, enabled the immense multitude of 
spectators to disperse in good season, and with per- 
fect decoinim. 

It was alike honourable to our citizens, and indica- 
tive of the great interest felt on the occasion, to ob- 
serve the entire suspension of business, and the still- 
ness and solemnity which every where prevailed. 

Many interesting circumstances could be mention- 
ed, to illustrate the general feeling, were it not feared 
that this account is already sufficiently extended. A 
few particulars only will be adverted to. 

Great interest was manifested by the pubhc to see 
the body, ere it was forever withdrawn from human 
observation. From an early hour in the morning un- 
til 1 o'clock, the room in which the coffin was depo- 
sited, was thronged by respectable visitants who at- 
tended for that purpose, and many of whom had come 
from a considerable distance. 

The side walks of every street through which the 
procession moved, and the windows of houses, and 
the roofs of several of them, were thronged by spec- 
tators of both sexes and of every age. Many of them 
wore badges, bearing a miniature likeness of Chnton. 
More than one of the groups thus decorated, were 
composed of children, whose parents had adopted 



96 FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS. 

this mode of manifesting their own sympathy witii 
the general feehng. 

The colours of the several vessels at the wharves 
of the city, were displayed at half mast. 

Upon the whole, every thing was done that duty or 
sympathy required ; and so done, as to confer honour 
upon the legislature and the state. The solemnities, 
without being ostentatious, were appropriate and im- 
posing. They were calculated to call out the finer 
feelings of the heart — to remind those who witnessed 
them, of the solemn rites consecrated in ancient days, 
to the memory of heroes and mighty men, and to fur- 
nish at the same time, a noble incentive and a bright 
reward to public virtue. 



szpRXSsszoisrs 

OF 

PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 

CITY OF ALBANY. 

From the Signs of the Times, 

Urn'd are the ashes of CLINTON! DE WITT 

CLINTON, the patriot and the statesman, the great 
and the good, has left this subhinary sphere of action, 
in which he has filled so large a space, for one more 
kindred. 

He departed this life on Monday evening last, at 
an early hour, full of usefulness and honour, in the 
59th year of his age. 

Never, since the formation of our government, has 
the sympathy and affection of the American pubhc re- 
ceived so severe a shock, as will be felt in this sud- 
den loss of Clinton. Washington is entombed in the 
hearts of his countrymen — but the frost of years and 
the accumulated glory of a long and useful life, had 
prepared their feelings for his exit, as the husbandman 
is prepared for the fruit time and the harvest. The 
same may be said of George Clinton, and of the im- 
mortal JetFerson, the effulgence of whose glory shed a 
hallowed lustre upon the simultaneous disappearance 
from the aralaxy of American greatness, of another 



98 EXPRESSIONS OF 

brilliant star. Earth, although reluctantly parturient 
of her pride, clung not to either of these as the fis- 
sures of the mountain rock cling to the knotted roots 
of their lofty and luxuriant fixtures. The vicissitudes 
of human life may successively 

"Put out the light; and then put out the light; 

But, 

" We know not where is that Promethean heat. 
Which can this light relume !" 

The pupil of science, who had drank copiously at 
her thousand streams — the bold and inflexible advocate 
of truth and of justice, who had, with dignified stern- 
ness, ministered at the altars of both — the man, on 
whose heart the God of nature had inscribed devotion 
to his country and the happiness of mankind, is no 
more ! And all for which we can hope — and the best 
for which we can pray, is — that in the long list of 
rising worthies in the native state of the illustrious 
departed, some may be found, endowed with the man- 
tle and spirit, which shall perpetuate, in the scale of 
the union, that commanding character and influence 
which has been acquired for it by De Witt Clinton. 
Although humbly sensible of the infirmity of human 
nature, and meekly submitting to the repeated admo- 
nitions of Divine Providence — that vigour of intellect 
which had distinguished his life, was graciously vouch- 
safed to him till its latest verge ; and far, far remote 
must the friends of our country have wished the ca- 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 99 

tastrophe, when, but yesterday, as it were, we heard 
him in accents fervid and solemn, venerating 

"The sublime association of heroic virtue and national gratitude" — 

a sentiment, of which, himself was so soon to be- 
come the object. 

The public presses of this city, as well as the cere- 
monies incident to his obsequies, (a detail of which 
will be found in our subsequent columns,) have alrea- 
dy rendered so just a tribute to the memory of the il- 
lustrious deceased, and so far anticipated, as to leave 
us little but recapitulation. Some abler hand will be 
his biographer; while Time, in his continuous career, 
will augment the evidences of his merits, until the fiat 
of Omnipotence shall sweep into the same undistin- 
guishable chaos, the marble page of history, and the 
more enduring materials of our globe upon which his 
name is indelibly inscribed. 

JFVom the Albany Daily Advertiser. 
DE WITT CLINTON. 

The funeral obsequies are over, and the grave ha^ 
closed on De Witt Clinton. Standing, as it were, 
between the living and the dead, we cannot yet appre- 
ciate his loss. We cannot yet reahse his removal. 
But the overflowings of a heart which honoured hira 
while living, and mourns him dead, may occupy a 
brief space to pour fortli its unaffected sorrow. 

Chnton was the son of an honoured soldier of the 



100 EXPRESSIONS OF 

revolution, and the nephew of another soldier and 
statesman of that sublime period. Rising from one 
office to another, until he reached the highest in our 
gift, his talents developed themselves to the admira- 
tion of his native state and country. His views were 
statesmanlike — he wielded party not merely for its 
accustomed purposes, but to advance the permanent 
welfare and lasting glory of the community which had 
elevated him. So settled was the conviction that he 
was not a mere politician, but looked to nobler and 
more enduring honours, that he often numbered among 
his supporters, those who differed with him on the 
details of state or national policy. It was his boast, 
and should now be our pride, that on more than one 
occasion, he was upborne by the people alone, to 
place and power. 

He was a scholar of no ordinary acquirements — a 
man of genius in all its commanding attributes — a 
statesman who disdained all the petty arts of the dem- 
agogue — a patriot who loved his country and died in 
her service. His is the fame that "follows after" — 
enduring, expanding, increasing. He fell, as a great 
man should wish to fall, in the full possession of intel- 
lectual vigour, "with his buckler on," administering 
the will and wielding the destinies of a mighty com- 
monwealth. 

This is not the time to compare De Witt Clinton 
with his cotemporaries in the republic. But as the 
invidious distinction has been taken, where, we ask, 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 101 

IS the living individual whose pubUc life can bear the 
scrutinizing examination of history like his? We are 
content, however, to take him as the Great Man of 
the State of New-York. We will garner up his fame 
— we will transmit his memory to our children, so 
that when future generations shaU ask for his monu- 
ment, they may be told, "The State of New- York, 

ITS GLORY ITS PROSPERITY ITS I^IPROVEMENT IN 

SCIENCE, LITERATURE AND THE ARTS ALL THESE WERE 

FOSTERED BY DE WITT CLINTON, AND ITS RE- 
NOWN IS HIS ENDURING MEMORIAL." 

lYom the Albany Daily Advertiser. 
MONUMENT TO CLINTON. 

Were it within the compass of human means, a 
statute should be erected to the memory of CLIN- 
TON, with one foot resting at the commencement of 
the grand canal at Buffalo, and the otlier at its ter- 
mination in Albany. The man who staked his repu- 
tation on the success of the project, and who used all 
the "giant energies of a giant mind," to the further- 
ance and completion of the greatest work, in its ef- 
fects, ever made by man, and t]iat too, when it was 
ridiculed and opposed by nearly all others, should 
have honour paid to his memory, commensurate in 
glory to tlie magnitude of the work of which he may 
be called the father. But as such a statue cannot be 
made, we hope that two gigantic monuments will be 
erected, one in this city a»KA the other at Buffalo, to 
commemorate the services of this great man, 



102 EXPRESSIONS OP 

From the National Observer. 

DE WITT CLINTON, the greatest man of the 
age, has made his exit from this sublunary world; 
and, as we hope, to a far more exalted and glorious 
state of existence. He died suddenly, at bis resi- 
dence in this city, on Monday evening last, of a rup- 
ture of the heart. This momentous and melancholy 
event, will produce a great sensation in the moral and 
intellectual world ; for it was not merely as a politi- 
cian, but as a pre-eminent scholar, civilian, philoso- 
pher, patriot and statesman, that De Witt Clinton 
was known to his country, and to distant nations ; and 
that his fame will reach to distant ages, and reflect 
lustre upon human nature. Wliatever may have been 
his errors, his departure creates a chasm, which is 
not at present to be filled; for he has not left behind 
him his equal in talents, or his superior in patriotism, 
in the United States. The monuments of his vast 
genius, are to be found in all the great and lasting 
benefits, which his indefatigable labours, and stupen- 
dous intellect, have conferred upon us, in our laws, 
our literary and scientific institutions, and our magni- 
ficent inland navigation. 

The name of Clinton, now that it is beyond the 
reach of envy, and the shafts of malice cannot touch 
it; now that rivalship is extinct, and there is no long- 
er the least obstacle to the expression of candid and 
just opinions, will rise on the wings of fame, and soar 
sublimely into the regions of immortahty ! The great- 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 103 

est of his errors, will be lost sight of in the least of 
his achievements; and the tears of his country will 
fall upon the tomb of the man, whose services are in- 
calculable, and whose virtues, and merits, and stupen- 
dous labours for her happiness and prosperity, have 
identified his fame and glory, with her fame and glory, 
and. rendered them equally imperishable in the annals 
of human greatness and national splendour. 

We could not say less — and we cannot say more, 
at present; for at the moment when our feehngs were 
shocked, beyond expression, by the annunciation of 
this deeply interesting, as well as melancholy intelli- 
gence, we were preparing for a journey, undertaken 
in support of that sacred cause of freedom and hu- 
manity, for which, along side of the illustrious de- 
ceased, we had the honour of contending in the 
gloomy and ever memorable days of '98. 

From, the Antidote. 

It is our melancholy duty to announce the exit of a 
man, whose name is identified with the fame and 
glory of the state, and the monuments of art and of 
science, and of civil and political liberty, upon which 
her fame and her glory will for ever rest. DE WITT 
CLINTON is that man. He died suddenly on Mon- 
day evening last, of a rupture of the heart. The sen- 
sation produced in this city, by the annimciation of 
this sudden and unexpected event, is indescribable; 
and a corresponding sensation will no doubt ac- 



104 EXPRESSIONS OF 

company the spread of the intelhgence throughout 
the union. We might pen a volume upon this sud- 
den departure of an incomparable scholar, philoso- 
pher, civihan, and statesman : but at present, we can 
only say, — Thus passeih away the glory of this world ! 
and admonish the reader to reflect upon the instabili- 
ty of human existence, prosperity and power. 

Clinton is no more! but his genius, his learning, 
his stupendous faculties, and the monuments of his 
talents and his labours for the good of his country 
and of mankind, are present to the minds of us all : 
and with this halo of glory encircling his own name, 
let us recollect, that he bowed in homage to the name 
of Jesus ; and to the virtues of a truly great mind, 
added the faith of a Christian. 

CITY OF NEW-YORK. 

Prom the Statesman. 

The name of De Witt Clinton, like that of Benja- 
min Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, must henceforth 
be known only in the pages of public history, and on 
the scroll of immortality. The part of him which 
belonged to, and connected him with, earth, has re- 
solved back to its elements; and the spirit by which 
it was irradiated, has taken its flight from amongst 
us! 

But though the man may vanish from the scene of 
his mortal career, the deeds by wliich that career was 
rendered eminent and honourable, survive to his 



I'UBLIC SENTLMENT. 10/) 

species, and will make themselves known and felt, 

by their influences upon general happiness, tiiroug^Ii 

the lapse of all time. 

From the moment of his entrance on the theatre of 

pubhc life, Mr. Chnton distinguished himself, not as 

the politician alone, but as elevating that character 

into the more exalted one of the statesman. Useful- 

« 

ness to his country, and to his fellow men, was the 
leading object of his studies — the liigh, and, we may 
add, holy aim of his ambition. In this great pursuit, 
he was enabled to command success from the perspi- 
cacity and energy of his mind, and the extent of his 
general acquirements. 

How far he has been successful, is evidenced by 
the advancement of science, the enlargement of pub- 
lic instruction, the improvement of agriculture and 
other peaceful arts, and the developement of our 
internal resources. Under the last head is to be 
classed the Western and Northern canals, two of the 
most magnificent works of this, or any, age or coun- 
try. To his genius and enterprise, to his untiring 
zeal, and to the influence of his character, are the 
origin and accomplishment of those grand schemes 
of public utihty to be exclusively attributed. It is not 
necessary to enumerate the many points, in detail, 
wherein the welfare and prosperity of our state have 
been promoted by his labours ; not immediately alone, 
but also consequentially, silently, and unobtrusively: 
Indeed, it would be impossible to ascertain the pro- 

K 



106 EXPRESSION OF 

portion in which his administration has enriched and 
advanced the state, in a comparison with the ordi- 
nary progress of events. 

In his personal character, there was every thing to 
admire. Dignity, but amenity of manners; an exem- 
plary discharge of the domestic duties; a love of let- 
ters and arts; and a display of all the virtues of so- 
cial life. 

At tlie period of his death, he was the appointed 
eulogist of another distinguished citizen, whose transit 
from life was almost as sudden as his own. None 
could have anticipated so fatal an impediment to the 
performance of that tribute to friendship ; and may 
we not ask here, who will discharge the task which 
has thus been interrupted, and who will also express 
the deep sense of public veneration and regret for his 
own character and loss? 

From the New-York Daily Advertiser. 
GOVERNOR CLINTON. 

The lamented decease of this great man, is an 
event which will excite strong emotions in the minds 
of the inhabitants of every portion of the union, and 
will be regarded with more than ordinary interest in 
more distant regions of the globe. As a politician, 
he has for many years occupied a great share of the 
public attention. His abilities and influence were 
such, that he was always sure of being distinguished, 
even amidst the contentions of party divisions, and 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 107 

the vioience of party animosity. Talents like his 
could not fail to command respect, even from those 
who were opposed to him in principle. Among his 
immediate friends and political adherents, he was al- 
ways regarded with the strongest and most devoted 
attachment. 

As a scholar, in the broad sense of the term, he 
was highly respectable. His public addresses to the 
legislature, have been extensively and justly admired, 
both at home and abroad, for the liberal and expan- 
sive views of policy which they contained, and as ex- 
hibiting specimens of fine style in composition, equally 
reputable to his hterary attainments, and his character 
as a statesman. 

As the patron, and zealous supporter of the system 
of instruction and education in the common schools, 
he will be entitled to the sincerest respect and grati- 
tude of the present and future generations. To this 
favourite object he devoted every faculty of his mind 
and body — exerting himself to the utmost of his pow- 
ers, and stimulating others by every motive and ar- 
gument that his ingenuity could urge or suggest. In 
almost all his messages to the legislature, this impor- 
tant subject held a prominent place ; and there are 
abundant reasons for beheving, that it is in a great 
measure owing to his constant exertions, and his un- 
wearied perseverance, that the school fund, and the 
common schools, are at the present time in so flour- 
ishing a condition. 



i08 EXPRESSION" OF 

But the great scheme of policy, which crowns hife 
character as a man of pre-eminent talents, and the 
most comprehensive views is that which gave rise to, 
and carried into complete effect the GREAT WEST- 
ERN OANaL. The world rarely produces men, 
who have the sagacity to devise, the wisdom to un- 
dertake, and the energy to accomplish, a work of 
this stupendous character. It cannot be denied^ 
without great injustice to Governor Clinton, that the 
merit derived from these sources is his due. It is in 
vain to say that others had contemplated, or brooded 
over this subject. Whilst they were considering, he 
was acting. And he acted witli a degree of decision 
and energy, tliat not merely overcame all opposition, 
and carried into complete effect his great project — he 
did more, he silenced the carpings, and checked the 
sneei^ of his enemies, and forced them to acknowl- 
edge the supremacy of his wisdom and talents, and 
the practical and more important effects of his en- 
larged and enlightened policy. The merit of this 
magnificent work belongs essentially to him — his 
name will be forever associated with it, in the same 
manner that the name of WashIxNgton is coupled 
with the establishment of our national independence : 
and if the legislature of the state are desirous of ac- 
knowledging the debt of gratitude which is due to 
this great patriot, now the grave has closed upon his 
earthly remains, and all the passions and feelings to 
which party anin^osity may have given rise are en- 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 109 

tombed together, tliey will give to the great work 
which unites the western waters with the Hudson, 
the name of the CLINTON CANAL. 

From the New- York Enquirer. 

On all sides and from all parties, we hear but one 
expression of regret, at the death of Governor Clin- 
ton. His former enemies unite with his friends in 
doing justice to his great merits, and lament the be- 
reavement which the country at large has sustained 
in his sudden decease. That he had enemies, and 
very powerful ones, cannot be doubted. Every pub- 
lic man must have them — a difference of political 
opinions — an ardent zeal on one or the other side of 
a question — a candidate for high and important sta- 
tions — the colhsion cf claims, the collision of interests, 
and the msgnitude of ^^tate and national views, must, 
united, create opposition,, denunciation and ill-will. 
They are, however, buried in the grave with the mor- 
tal part of him who exists in the memory and in the 
good opinions of his country — whose hfe has been 
undoubtedly one of great pubhc usefulness, and who 
I closed his career in the fulness of fame and surround- 
ed by the heralds of public trust. 

After regrets at the dispensation of providence, the 

t^uestion arises, and very naturally, what are to be the 

political effects of this sudden event? De Witt Clin- 

jton occupied as large a space in the political history 

of the country as lie did in the discharge of the vari- 

,-^ 



110 EXPRESSION OF 

ous civil offices which he had successfully filled— and 
this is a question which will be universally asked, 
and probably it is from this state and from those who 
are deeply interested in its politics, that an answer 
will be expected. Governor Chnton had been more 
than forty years a politician, and had drawn round 
him a number of personal friends, whose attachments 
were sincere and enduring. Whatever differences 
of opinion had existed in relation to men and mea- 
sures-r-whatever temporary changes in policy may | 
have been decided upon, it is clearly evident that 
Governor Chnton and his friends, as early as the 
year 1824, manifested a cordial attachment for the 
venerable and gallant patriot, who is at this moment, 
an object of so much interest with the American peo- 
ple, and the friendship was evinced at a period when 
success w^as more than doubtful. The friendship of 
1824, burned brighter in 1^27, and it tended to unite 
Governor Clinton and his friends with the old republi- 
can family, of which he was with the patriotic George 
Clinton, and his father. General James Chnton, uni- 
formly a member. It was at this moment of good 
i'eelings, when his prospects were the most flattering 
— when the calumet of peace had been smoked — 
when a union of the democratic family had taken 
place, and this great state was united and tranquil, ^ 
that he was called hence when about realizing in his 
own person, the advantages of the great civil revolu- 
tion, so near at hand. 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. Ill 

From the National Advocate. 

De Witt Clinton is no more. He is gathered 
unto his fathers, and sleeps with his ancestors. He 
expired at Albany on Monday evening last, while sit- 
ting in his chair, enjoying, apparently, his accustomed 
health. His death has made a vacuum in the scienti- 
fic as well as the political world. Ages may roll 
away ere that vacuum can be filled. He has fallen 
amidst his usefulness and his greatness, surrounded 
by the most devoted and the most faitliful of friends. 
He had not yet numbered three score years, and his 
fame had spread throughout the land of his nativity, 
and extended to the uttermost corners of the earth. 

As the champion of internal improvements, he has 
erected his own monument, far more imperishable 
than marble or brass. 

Mr. Clinton was bred in the school of democracy, 
and in the year 1798, although but a stripling, he was 
raiiked among the firmest and proudest pillars that 
sustained and gave life and energy to the repubUcan 
party. A history of his public services would require 
more time and space than can be allotted to this fugi- 
tive sketch. It is enough for the fame of De Witt 
Chnton, that, through his mighty and fearless exer- 
tions, our Northern and Western Canals were com- 
menced and completed, while more timid and calcu- 
lating politicians shrunk from, a bold and manly sup- 
port of the system ; and yet, at a future period, after 
doubt and uncertainty were removed, these same men 



J 12 EXPRESSIONS OF 

attempted to wrest from him the honour which he so 
richly merited, and had so nobly acquired. But he 
rests from his labours. Sacred be his manes. 

Mr. Clinton was an efficient and useful member of 
nearly all the charitable, literaiy and scientific institu- 
tions of our state, and the founder of many of them. 

He retained, in full vigour, until the hour of his 
death, the powers of his gigantic mind ; and if he had 
left on record no other evidence of his great research 
and discriminating talents, but his letter to Judge Ed- 
wards, on the subject of his interference with the ex- 
ecutive prerogative, that letter alone would deservedly 
immortalize his memory. 

No statesman, in our country, has fallen, whose de- 
cease will be more sincerely deplored by his personal 
friends, than Mr. Clinton. They loved him, almost to 
idolatry, and he merited their attachment; for in pros- 
perity or adversity, he continued to recognise and 
support them. He rallied around him some of the 
most active and zealous politicians in the state, whose 
sole object, in the coming presidential contest, was 
the gratification of his wishes, and the promotion of 
his views. But now that he has become a lifeless 
clod of the valley, many, very many, of these men will 
retire from the conflict, and no longer be participators 
in a struggle where they never had an interest, and 
where the endearing voice of friendship ceases to call 
for their exertion. 

This short obituary of Mr. Clinton is from the pen 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 113 

ef a political opponent. But the grave hides from 
mortal ken his infirmities. Let not the tongue of 
slander detract from liis merits, nor sully the virtues 
which gave dignity to him as a man. 

"The good that he has done lives after him: 
And let his foibles be interred with his bones." 

From the Nevy-York MtrchanVs Telegraph. 
DEATH OF DE WITT CLINTON. 

The death of ordinary men is daily recorded by the 
public journahst, without any particular emotions of 
regret, and oftentimes without a ^-igh; but when indi- 
viduals, highly distinguished trom the mass of man- 
kind, by pubhc and private virtues, exalted talents, 
and deeds that outlast the marbie, are suddenly snatch- 
ed from the scenes of their usefulness, the sorrow oc- 
casioned by their loss is too deeply felt to find a ready 
utterance in words. That a public calamity has fallen 
upon the people, the mourning garb of our paper has 
already announced; but it remains for us to add the 
painful explanation, that the calamity is sustained in 
the death of De Witt Clinton, a man rich in the 
possession of every moral and intellectual quahty, 
that wins the esteem or commands the admiration of 
the world. This melancholy catastrophe was as sud- 
den as the grief it creates will be general and lasting. 
Thus has death, with hasty summons, called from 
a comirmnity that can but ill sustain so heavy a loss, 
another great one of the earth, to the silent tomb, on 



114 EXPRESSIONS OP 

which the Spartan's epitaph cannot be engraven — 
" Sparta hath many a worthier son." As a statesman, 
he was profound and sagacious ; and though it has 
been his lot frequently to be assailed by the vitupera- 
tive tongue of faction, (for where is the public virtue 
so spotless, or wisdom so pervading, as to escape the 
censure of malevolence?) yet it will be long, we fear, 
before the helm of government will be entrusted to 
hands, able, like his, to guide the state through the 
storms of party, with advantage to itself, and to his 
own glory and renow^n. As a scholar, few of any 
country surpassed him; and the lore of centuries, 
with which his mind was richly stored, was used 
with modest prodigaHty, not for ostentatious display, 
but for the advancement of his country's interest. — 
As a man, in the various relations of husband, father, 
friend, he acted according to the impulses of an ex- 
cellent heart, guided by a sound understanding ; and 
his death has occasioned a void in the bosom of kin- 
dred, which the eulogies of a mourning land cannot 
close. He is gone. He has served his country long 
and well ; would that he could have served it longer, 
for we know not how he could have served it better. 
A leaf of greenest verdure has been added by him to 
the chaplets of his country's glory ; and his name will 
be treasured by ten milhons of freemen as an invalua- 
ble legacy — 

" One of the few, the immortal names. 
That were not born to die " 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 115 

From the New-York Spectator. 

The state of New- York has thus lost its highest 
ornament ; our country one of its noblest benefactors, 
and the cause of science and improvement a faithful 
and indefatigable patron. The remarks of Mr. But- 
ler, in the Assembly, comprehend in chaste language, 
a well-deserved tribute to the memory of this great 
statesman. Coming from a political opponent, they 
do not speak the voice of eulogy, but of simple truth. 
It is most true, as Mr. Butler observed, that however 
great a politician may be, merely as such, his memory 
will scarcely survive his death for a single generation, 
if he has not identified his name and fame with some 
great national improvement, or some melioration of 
the condition of mankind. The name of Clinton 
belongs to late posterity, not from his political career, 
though his star so long influenced the tides of party. 
His popularity will be immortal, because the effects of 
his labours will endure while our nation has an exist- 
ence; and will come home to the business and bo- 
soms of men, in the facihties of education, commerce 
and internal communication, achieved by his genius 
and perseverance. Our country has not such an- 
other man to mourn for. It will be long before an- 
other can arise to fill so large a space in the minds of 
our citizens or the feelings of society. It is not our 
purpose now to write his eulogy, or attempt a sketch 
of his character and labours. We sympathize deeply 
with a community which deplores his loss; a loss 



116 EXPRESSIONS OF 

which will be but felt more and more deeply, as llie 
difficulty of replacing it is experienced. 

From the Ntw-York Telegraph. 

The melancholy tidings of the decease of our illus- 
trious chief magistrate, have thrown a gloom and sor- 
row over our city, which speak louder than words the 
language of all hearts, his merited eulogy. The 
mournful intelligence reached the city on Thursday 
evening, but spread with rapidity, and produced 
throughout our whole community but one feeling, that 
of heart-felt sorrow for the irreparable loss which 
learning, morals, good order, public improvement, the 
state, and the nation, have sustained by the dreadful 
catastrophe which has deprevived us forever of the 
great friend and promoter of the welfare of each. — 
The shipping in our port yesterday displayed their 
flags at half-mast, and the same emblems of mourning 
were exhibited from the pubhc buildings in the city. 

In addition to the testimonies of the regret which is 
experienced at the sudden " dimming of our shining 
star," and of the admiration with which the exalted 
character and talents of De Witt Clinton were beheld, 
we insert the proceedings, adopted in this city 
— among the citizens of which, as in Albany, and 
in every other place where the sorrowful tidings have 
been heard, a general gloom hangs over every brow, 
the shadow of despondency within. 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. - 117 

Fi^om the Neiv-York Evening Post. 
DE WITT CLINTON IS NO MORE ! 

Apart from the deep regrets which it must occasion 
to his personal friends, as well as to those who, with- 
out distinction 'of party, were admirers of his talents 
and intellectual powers — the intelligence of this un- 
happy event, which may be looked upon as a national 
loss, will awaken a general feeling of sorrow through- 
o .t the union. Mr. Clinton has been universally and 
justly regarded as a profound statesman and an able 
scholar, while the policy which has been so success- 
fully pursued by him, in relation to internal improve- 
ments, has found but few opponents. He has been 
taken from among us in the midst of his activity and 
usefulness, but not until he had impressed the charac- 
ter of his mind upon the institutions of our state, and 
identified his name with enterprises, the benefits of 
which will be reaped by the latest posterity. 

From the {New-York) Albion. 

De Witt Clinton was no ordinary man. Endow- 
ed with commanding intellect, the most persevering 
industry, and the most inflexible energy in the prose- 
cution of his designs, he distanced all his competitors 
in the acquisition of knowledge, and had, even in the 
earlier periods of his fife, gained a reputation for 
learning, for political sagacity, and all the attributes of 
a prompt and powerful writer, which most other men 
are contented to have won at the close of a protracted 

L 



IIB EXPRESSIONS OF 

life. Thrown by his relation to the venerable George 
Clinton, when his minority was scarcely finished, into 
the political arena, the contests of which were then of 
proverbial fierceness and intensity, he displayed that 
sternness of purpose and power of argument which 
afterwards gave character to his administration, as 
chief magistrate of this state. But his mind was of 
too fine a cast^ to be obscured and disfigured by those 
party contests which must, and ever will exist in all 
free states. Bred to the bar, his professional studies 
were neither ill directed, nor superficial. Discarding 
those narrow and confined view^s, which too often 
bind down the mere lawyer to the despotism of ad- 
judged cases, and acknowledged precedents, he en- 
deavoured to combine the noble and more abstruse 
principles of justice, with the severity of legal adjudi- 
cations, and has thus exhibited in some of his opin- 
ions in the Court of Errors of this state, a model for 
judicial investigation, and a felicitous instance of that 
mingled equity and strict rule, which should ever 
characterize a court of the last resort. 

Systematic in the distribution of his time, and ap- 
plying his talents directly to every object which they 
were intended to embrace, De Witt Clinton attained 
an eminence in general learning and hterature, which 
even those miglit envy, who had made a single de- 
partment of them the subject of tlieir investigation. 
He was a scholar of no mean classical acquirement 
' — a lover of the glorious face of nature around us, and 



PUBLIC SENTIIVrENT. 119 

a curious investigator of the singular facts it con- 
stantly presents; his knowledge of botany, mineralogy, 
and natural history, rendered his house at once the 
resort of foreigners as well as Americans devoted to 
the same interesting enquiries. But his was not that 
jejune and miserable learning, which treasures up iso- 
lated facts and unimportant and barren generalities — 
it applied every item of information to some practical 
result or some useful conclusion. 

But, this distinguished man, while he possessed a 
mind that could devote itself with ardour to investiga- 
tions of limited extent and importance, was charac- 
terized by his elevated views of the public weal, by 
his admirable knowledge of the public resources, and 
by his broad and comprehensive ideas of public poli- 
cy. He was a statesman in the largest sense of that 
term — to this fact, his messages to the legi.sluture, and 
various other documents which are now matter of his- 
tory, bear a most ample and noble testimony — they 
have received the sutfrages of kindred talent on both 
sides of the Atlantic. The name of Clinton is iden- 
tified with the power and glory of his native state, — 
and those reverses, the common lot of UBtion, which 
shall consign our history to oblivion, shall alone be 
able to obliterate the monuments of his fame. The 
ruin which awaits the one, will consign both to one 
common extinction. De Witt Clinton was not the 
projector of the Erie Canal — but he seized with avidity 
an idea which, no doubt, had often been conceived, 



12U EXPRESSIONS OF 

and as often abandoned as an idle but wild and splen- 
did chimera ; he examined, with his masterly and in- 
tuitive perception, the practicabihty of the enterprise — 
he considered the revenues of the state, (which were 
then hardly a tenth of our present municipal disburse- 
ments,) — he knew well its resources, and he appreci- 
ated the pubhc spirit of his fellow-citizens — and hav- 
ing, in glorious perspective, all the multiplied bless- 
ings w^hich that great work is now conferring on this 
people and the union — unmoved by the doubts and 
fears of friends, and undismayed by the ridicule and 
liostihty of open enemies — he assumed the patronage 
of that high enterprise, and perilled his political repu- 
tation and fortunes upon its success. If Louis XIV. 
derives the most substantial portion of his glory from 
the Canal of Languedoc, what praise is due to him, 
who has caused the waters of the great lakes to com- 
mingle with those of the Hudson — who has opened a 
market for the produce of the richest country under 
the canopy of heaven, — ^involving a coasting trade 
more extensive than the shores of Europe, — who has 
added nerve to industry — increased individual com- 
fort and prosperity— ameliorated the condition of man 
in these vast regions — and secured, by an indissolu- 
ble link, the power and greatness of our common 
country. With far more justice, than truth will ac- 
cord even to the talents of the great architect, there 
may be engiaven on that slab which covers all that 
was mortal of De Witt Clinton, "»S'i qnmris momimen- 
tum^ ciraanspice.''' 



PUBLIC SEiNTlMENT. 121 

At a meeting of the citizens of tlie city and county 
of New-York, on the 21st inst. at the large room in 
the Masonic Hall, Broadway, opposite the Hospital, 
convened by pubhc notice, for the purpose of ex- 
pressing their feelings on the death of De Witt Clin- 
ton, late governor of this state, Morgan Lewis, Esq. 
was appointed chairman, and Thomas Herttell, ap- 
pointed secretary. 

Pliilip Hone^ Esq. late mayor, then rose and ad- 
dressed the chair as follows : 

This meeting is convened for the purpose of ex- 
pressing the sense of the citizens of New-York gene- 
rally, on the occasion of the death of the late Governor 
Chnton. The various public institutions of which he 
was a distinguished member, and several of w^hich 
were planted and watered by his hand, have already 
paid this tribute to his memory. But we are assem- 
bled to express, as far as possible, the sentiments of 
the citizens of New- York. The benefit of his labours 
for the public good are felt in every section of the 
state. But we have participated largely, and we claim 
the privilege of expressing loudly and deeply our grief 
on this melanclioly occasion. 

It is not my intention to pronounce a panegyric on 
the great and good man whose loss we deplore. — 
Abler beads will conceive, more practised hands will 
indite, and more eloquent hps pronounce, his eulogy ; 
but no heart will be found to feel this bereavement 

L* 



122 EXPRESSIONS OF 

more sensibly than that of the individual who now 
addresses you. 

Engaged a& Governor Clinton has been, in party 
politics, ever since the commencement of his career as 
a pubUc man, he was nevertheless deficient in that 
quality of a poHtician, which is unfortunately too often 
considered as essential. His was not that cold, cal- 
culating policy, which, congealing the natural currents 
of the heart, would check its godlike impulse, and 
prevent him from loving those who k>ved him, lest it 
might interfere with his political plans : He was not 
of that class of politicians, who fearing to do some- 
thing wrong, are content to do nothing right. By pro- 
fessional politicians he was condemned for this ; but 
this it was that endeared him to his friends; and few 
public men have ever possessed in so great a degree 
the affections of his personal friends. 

As a political man, and the leader of a party, he had 
many adherents and many opponents — talents like 
his, could not fail to protrude their possessor into the 
front rank. On all occasions, and if his inchnations 
had led him at any time to seek the immunity of neu- 
trality, in relation to questions of a pubhc nature, the 
voice of his fellow-citizens would have forbidden it. 
But happily for his fame, his claims are more substan- 
tial than those merely of the leader of a political sect, 
[n the silence of the tomb the voice of party is hush- 
ed, and om^ lamented Clinton will be remembered as 
Ihe proudest ornament of the state. She weeps for 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 123 

him as the enUghtened scholar; the patron, and effi- 
cient supporter of those hberal institutions which 
serve to adorn our country, and to mehorate the con- 
dition of its citizens ; the patriotic and incon^uptible 
statesman, and tlie active, zealous, fearless advocate 
of internal improvements; that cause in which his 
pohtical and personal reputation was so deeply iden- 
tified, that its. failure would have been his defeat, as 
its successful accomplishment is his glory. It has 
succeeded, and his fellow-citizens will not refuse him 
their gratitude, which alone constituted the ultimate 
object of his patriotic labours. 

The legislature of the state are at present engaged 
in such measures, as are best calculated to assuage 
the grief of his bereaved relatives, and to redound to 
their own honour; and we are assembled this day to 
encourage them in well-doing, by an approval of those 
measures ; and in mingling our tears with those which 
have been shed in other parts of the state, to express 
how deeply this afflictive dispensation of divine provi- 
dence is felt by the city of New- York. 

Mr. Hone then offered the following resolutions : 

Resolved, That we deplore, in common with our 
fellow-citizens, the dispensation of providence, which 
has deprived us of our late chief magistrate, De Witt 
Clinton, and unite with heart-felt sincerity, in the sor- 
row which has followed him to the tomb. 

Resolved, That while, in the death of De Witt 
Clinton, we recognise a nation's loss, which demands 



124 EXPRESSIONS OF 

the expression of a nation's grief, we especially feel 
the bereavement, as inhabitants of this city, which by 
his genius, virtues, and untiring exertions, has been 
rendered the seat of commerce, prosperity and opu- 
lence. 

Resolved, That a committee of two persons from 
each ward, be appointed to consider of and recom- 
mend such measures as they may deem necessary 
and proper, for rendering honour to the character and 
public services of the deceased. 

Elbert Herring, Esq. seconded the resolutions, and 
addressed the meeting as follows : 

Mr. Chairman — It is with much emotion that I 
second the resolutions just read. The merit of the 
great man whose death has assembled us, demands 
an abler eulogist ; and I trust that richer praise and 
worthier tributes of respect may follow my humble 
offering. It is, however, grateful to my feelings to 
mingle my own with the general sorrow, and to 
manifest regard for the memory of him, who, when 
hying, I never ceased to lionour. It is creditable to 
our nature to weep over departed worth ; and it is 
ahke our duty and interest to mourn over and to deck 
the graves of the illustrious dead. And could death 
have struck down a nobler victim? Could tlic 
grave have closed upon one more devoted to his 
country, or more useful to the human family, or more 
endeared to tjie vv'i .se and tlie good ? Early in life, 
he, whose death we deplore, and niiose memory we 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 125 

would honour, was called by his countrymen into 
pubhc employment ; and from that time till our be- 
reavement, his mighty mind was consecrated to his ^^ 
country's service. For more than thirty years he 
has passed in review before you, occupying many of- 
ficial stations, shedding lustre upon them all, and im- 
pressing upon them all the character of his exalted 
mind. From the commencement to the close his 
brilliant career, he was the distinguished patron of 
science and the arts, and the untiring advocate of 
charitable and moral institutions. Whatever was 
great, or good, or useful — whatever we respect, or 
admire, or applaud — whatever tended to dignify hu- 
man nature and meliorate the condition of man, to 
promote the cause of virtue, and exalt the character 
of his country, was sure to find in him zealous sup-/^ 
port and etficient aid. To his indefatigable exertions 
the school fund, in a great measure, owes is pros- 
perity. His etforts have pre-eminently diffused edu- 
cation through our state ; and to thousands has the 
book of knowledge been opened, who, but for him, 
would have been uneducated and unenhghtened, blhid 
to its beauties and ito blessings, fie saw in the diifu- 
sion of knowledge, and in the mental culture oi his 
countrymen, their appreciation of their own rights, 
their love of freedom, and the stabihty and permanent 
cy of our civil institutions. Under his fostering care 
agriculture left her unprcgressivo position, and made 
rapid strides in improvement. He realized the bless- 



126 EXPRESSIONS OF 

ings that follow in her train. He knew that she dis- 
pensed wealth, cherished independence, and inculcat- 
ed morality; and he therefore made it the object of 
special communication to our legislature. He was 
the constant advocate of moral and chai'itable institu- 
tions — he considered them the handmaids of benevo- 
lence and virtue, ministering to the happiness, and 
advancing the best interests of society ; and he lent 
them the influence of his talents and of his great name. 
And, sir, his energy and influence, and foresight, 
have intermingled the lakes and the Hudson. 1 he 
great Western Canal owns him as its efiicient Patron. 
His comprehensive mind grasped its stupendous im- 
portance — he viewed in its completion the prosperity 
of the state, and the glory of the nation — and on its 
accomplishment he hazarded his renown. That work 
alone will immortalize his name; and the benefits re- 
suiting from it will transcend the power of computa* 
tion. Sir, this is a rapid glance at some of his pub- 
lic services — less could not be said. But his eulogy 
will be emprtaticdlly, and sublimely, and beautifully 
pronounced by the prosperity and aggrandizement of 
the state and the nation. This illustrious man was in 
one instant passing before us in his career of useful- 
ness, with the brilliancy of a meteor, and in the next, 
the '.: «L'-'ner3 were bearing him to his long home. 
But h'"; i?; emt^almed in the hearts of his countrymen, 
because he pursuer^ t'lc best interests, and I'dvanced 
the true ^lory of his country. We attest his worth 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 127 

by our sorrow — and we offer our tribute of mournful 
respect to this friend of science—this patron of the 
arts — this ornament of our country' — this benefactor 
of mankind. 

Resolved, That these proceedings be signed by 
the chairman and secretary, and pubhshed. 

Resolved, That this meeting adjourn to such 
time and place as shall be designated by the chair- 
man, by pubhc notice. 

MORGAN LEWIS, Chairman. 

Thos Herttell, Secretary. 

NEW-YORK STATE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI. 

JVeto-Forfe, February 15, 1828. 

The president performs the melancholy duty of an- 
nouncing to the members, that his Excellency De 
Witt Clinton, governor of the state, and a member 
of this state society, departed this life at Albany, on 
Monday evening last. 

Governor Chnton's public and private life are so 
generally known, his patriotism and love of country 
so universally admitted, his philanthropy and talents 
so justly admired, that his death is at this time to be 
mourned as a national loss ; while his attachment to 
the members of the society and his continued exer- 
tions to promote the best interests of the institution, 
make him to be regretted as a personal friend. 

The members of the society will therefore wear the 



128 EXPRESSIONS OF 

usual badge of mourning for thirty days to evince their 
respect for his memory. By order of 

Col. RICHARD VARICK, President. 
Charles Graham, Secretary. 

British Consulate, 
New- York, 15th Feb. 1828. 
The British Consul requests the masters of the 
several British ships now in port, upon Sunday next, 
to hoist their colours at half-mast, as a mark of re- 
spect for the memory of his Excellency De Witt Clin- 
ton, governor of this state, whose superior endow- 
ments will justly place him among the first men of 
this or any age ; by whose death the scientific world 
has sustained irreparable loss and the country one of 
its brightest ornaments, 

Russian Consulate, 
New-York, Feb. 15th, 1828. 
His Imperial Majesty's Consul requests of the 
several Russian ships now in this port, upon Sunday 
next, to hoist their colours half-mast high as a token 
of respect for the memory of his Excellency De 
Witt Clinton, late governor of this state. 

From the New-York Daily Advertiser. 

A resolution has been introduced into the house of 
Assembly at Albany, the object of which is, to allow 
to the minor children of Governor Clinton, the amount 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 129 

of the salary of canal commissioner, dm ing the time 
in which he acted in that capacity, but for which he 
declined receiving any compensation. We are glad 
to see this proposition. It is notliing more than pay- 
ing a just debt. Tlie circumstances of his dechning 
to receiving it at the time the services were rendered, 
can never be considered as a discharge to the state 
from their equitable liability to pay the salary; and as 
the family are left dependent, the most obvious princi- 
ples of justice would induce the legislature to pay to 
the family the amount which might liave been receiv- 
ed by him at the time it was due. 

But we hope that something beyond this Avill be 
done. By the influence and exertions of Governor 
Clinton, the state enjoys the benefit of the great West- 
ern Canal, which is not to be considered merely in 
the light of a magnificent public work — it must be 
estimated as a thing of far more importance than 
such a view of its character would indicate. As 
soon as the debt incurred for the completion of this 
great work sliall be paid oft^ the income from the 
canal will go far towards supplying the necessities of 
the state for the support of its civil government. We 
need look forward but a very few years to the period, 
when by the completion of the canal across the state 
of Ohio, from Lake Erie to tiie Ohio river, and the 
settlement of the immense regions upon the shores of 
the great lakes, to realize the incalculable importance 
of this stupendous enterprise. The productions of 

M 



130 EXPRESSIONS OF 

those vast but fertile regions must, to a great extent, 
pass through this grand outlet to the ocean, and in 
this city find their principal market. The income 
arising from this source, in addition to the private 
emolument which will be realized by carriers, mer- 
chants, agents, &:c. will be immensely great, and wiU 
redound to the advantage of the state. What will be 
the feehngs of respect and gTatitude of the people and 
government of New-York, fifty years hence, to the 
memory of the man who planned and executed this 
highway to the ocean ? And, w^e may emphatically 
inquire, what will be the feelings of the people of 
Ohio, and Indiana, of Michigan, and tl;e ten-itories 
bordering upon the upper lakes, when they realize all 
the benefits of a cheap, safe, and ready highway to 
market, for the products of their flourishing regions, 
and contrast their situation with wiiat it would be if 
the Erie Canal had never been formed ? 

A sum from the state treasury, which would place 
the family of Governor Clinton beyond the reach of 
want, would never be felt, and we trust never grudg- 
ed, by the people of this state, who owe liim so much. 
But how reproacliful would it be to them to leave in 
penury the beloved offspring of their greatest Bene- 
factor '? 

At a meeting of merchants at the Masonic Hall, on 
Wednesday evening 20t]i inst. to receive the report 
of a committee on the subject of aflbrding permanent 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 131 

and efficient aid in promoting the laudable efforts of 
the merchants' clerks of this city, connected with tlie 
Mercantile Library Association ; and with the view 
of enlarging the operations and giving greater per- 
manence to the character of this institution — 
W. W. Woolsey, Esq. being appointed chairman, and 

Mr. Jno. D. Steele, secretary ; 

During the discussion of the resolutions, a com- 
munication was received from the young gentlemen 
of the library association, reminding the meeting of 
the early benefactions to their institution of the late 
chief magistrate of this state, and requesting some 
tribute to his memory. 

The coincidence of this fact with the circumstance 
of the late public bereavement, produced an instantane- 
ous and unanimous expression of sentiment, that the 
association about to be formed should be distinguish- 
ed by the name of the illustrious statesman whose 
loss is now so generally deplored ; and it was earn- 
estly recommended as the sense of the meeting that 
the institution should be styled the CLINTON HALL 
ASSOCIATION— that the building when erected, 
CLINTON HALL, might prove a lasting and at the 
same time a useful monument of the grateful recollec- 
tion entertained by the merchants of this city of the 
services of that distinguished statesman ; particularly 
of the important service rendered to the trade of the 
city of New- York, by the principal author and execu- 
tor of that great project, so happily accomplished, by 



132 EXPRESSIONS OF 

which the rich treasures of our northern and western 
boundaries are poured into the lap of this emporium 
of American commerce. 

It was well observed at this meeting, that the mer- 
diants of New-York, with all their intelligence, activi- 
ty and enterprise had been wantingto themselves par- 
ticularly in one respect — in promoting that unity of 
feeling and combination of effort so essential for the 
protection of their interests, and so generally attend- 
ed to by every other class of the community. Th'e 
estabhshment of this association, and the erection of 
CLINTON HALL as a common beacon for all en- 
gaged in trade, there was room to hope would pro- 
cure this desirable effect, and the institution itself, 
like a Grand Canal, might bring together every distant 
interest to unite at any time in one general co-opera- 
lion for thir mutual benefit. 

MEETING OF THE BAR. 

At the opening of the Court of Common Pleas 
this morning, on it-i being suggested that a meeting 
of the bar had been called at 12 o'clock, at the City 
Hall for the purpose of agreeing upon some public 
expression of their sorrow at the death of Governor 
Clinton, the court adjourned in order to give the mem- 
bers of the profession an opportunity to attend. 

At twelve oV-lock Chancellor Kent took the chair, 
and Bylvanus Miller was appointed secretary. 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 133 

Josiah O. Hoffman, Esq. then moved the following 
resolutions : 

The members of the bar of the city of New-York, 
assembled to express their sense of the pubUc ca- 
lamity occasioned by the death of De Witt Clin- 
ton, 

Resolve unanimously, That they deeply unite in 
the voice of sorrow, this afflicting dispensation has 
called forth, not only from the hearts of his family 
and friends, but from pubhc bodies, scientific, reli- 
gious and charitable institutions, the tribunals of jus- 
tice and the legislative councils of the state, who 
each felt a portion of its character and usefulness 
identified with his name, and each of wiiich mourns 
the loss as peculiarly its own. 

That the death of such a man in the fulness of his 
acquirements, strength of his intellect, and when his 
country anticipated still further exertions for its wel- 
fare and happiness, of which the present and endear- 
ing monuments of his genius and constancy, afford- 
ed full assurance, is a bereavement, greatly deplorable 
by the state he exalted and the age he adorned. 

Resolved, That the bar of this city, as a tribute of 
respect to the memory of the deceased, and in testi- 
iaony of their heart-felt regret, will wear mourning 
during tlie present session of the legislature. 

Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be 
rtiigned by the chairman and secretary, and published 
in the different newspapers. 

M* 



134 EXPRESSIONS OF 

Mr. Griffin, in seconding the motion made the fol- 
lowing remarks : 

Mr. Chairman — It is no ordinary death that has 
called us together. When such an individual as a 
Canning or a Clinton dies, we mourn not as mem- 
bers of a particular profession, or a particular com- 
munity, but as members of the great family of man. 
It is a bereaved world that feels the loss. 

Our lamented Clinton was a character whom the 
worthies of antiquity would cheerfully have hailed as 
a brother. Possessed of a peculiarly commanding 
person, and a more commanding mind — a mind richly 
stored with the treasures of ancient and modern learn- 
ing and animated by an ambition lofty and inflexible, it 
is true, yet identified with the glory of his country, — 
wise in deliberation, unbending ia purpose, determin- 
ed ip action — nature and education formed him to be 
one of the master spirits of the age in which he 
iivea. The Pericles of our commonwealth, for near 
thirty years exercised without stooping to the little 
arts of popularity, an intellectual dominion in his na- 
tive state scarcely inferior to that of the illustrious 
Athenian — a dominion as benignant as it was effective. 
;« He was the supporter of every charitable and reU- 
'\ gious institution — the encourager of every science 
f and every art. Not confining his literary patronage 
to the artist and the scholar, he also devoted the pow- 
ers of his mighty mind to the less brilliant, but not 
less useful subject of common education. Feeling 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 135 

the truth of the great political axiom, that virtue and 
information, widely diffused, are the only sure pillars 
of a republican government, he zealously promoted 
every object calculated to meliorate the moral condi- 
tion of this state, and laboured, with untiring assidu- 
ity, to irradiate the liberal mind with the light of 
knowledge. 

[He then alluded to the canal policy, and his intim- 
ate connection with its rise and progress.] 

JAMES KENT, Chairman. 

Sylvanus Miller, Secretary. 

At a meeting of the New-York Historical Society, 
specially convened at their rooms in the New-York 
Institution, February 18, 1828, it was unanimously 

Resolved, That this society unite with their fellow- 
citizens in deeply deploring the recent death of De 
Witt Clinton, the late distinguished chief magistrate 
of the state. And that they in the highest degree 
appreciate the eminent services which he ha& render- 
ed in the various offices he successively held ; the 
propitious influence of his exertions in the promotion 
of science and literature, and the steady and uniform 
encouragement of every object intended for the dis- 
semination of intelligence and the promotior^ of the 
general good. 

Resolved, That in this afflictive bereavement, the 
society has to mourn the loss of one of its earliest and 
most efficient patrons ; of one who presided over it 



13b EXPRESSIONS OF 

with distinguished abiht)^ ; and of one who enriched 
its collections of historical materials, by his learned 
researches and profound investigations. 

Resolved, That the members of this society will 
wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days, 
and that these resolutions be published. 

At an adjourned stated meeting of the New- York 
County Medical Society, held on the 18th inst. the 
following resolutions were moved and unanimously 
adopted : 

Resolved, That the Medical Society, of the county 
of New- York, in common with their fellow-citizens, 
are deeply sensible of the loss which the American 
public, and more especially the people of this state, 
have sustained in the death of De Witt Clinton, the 
late governor. 

Resolved, That it is not less the duty, than the in- 
terest of a free and intelligent people, publicly to ex- 
press their sense of the desert of great (when occa- 
sions like the present give opportunity) and good men ; 
inasmuch as the characters of such men, are among 
the most valuable property which a commonvi^ealth 
caii possess, and the right improvement of their ex- 
amples its most permanent riches. 

Resolved, That the life and character of our late 
excellent chief magistrate, are so intimately connected 
with all the plans which have been designed or adopt- 
ed for the improvement of this state, for the last thirty 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 13? 

years, that the gratitude of generations yet unborn will 
be the memorial of his worth. 

Resolved, That our profession are deeply sensible 
of the weight of his council and influence, in organiz- 
ing the various medical societies throughout this state, 
and that they will ever cherish a grateful recollection 
of his services. 

Resolved, That a committee of five persons be ap- 
pointed, to confer with a similar committee, to be ap- 
pointed by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 
in order to the adoption of ulterior measures, by 
which the profession may testify their respect for the 
deceased. 

Resolved, That the members of this society wear 
the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. 

Resolved, That the foregoing resolutions be pub- 
lished, with the signatures of the president and secre- 
tary, and that a copy thereof be transmitted to the 
family of the deceased. 

Rxtract from the minutes of a meeting of the trus- 
tees of The Pubhc School Society of New- York, 
held February 15th, 1828. 

Previously to the opening of the business of the 
meeting, S. Cowdry informed the board of the la- 
mented and sudden death of our late worthy presi- 
dent, De Witt Clinton, and he offere.i the follow ng 
preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously 
adopted : 



138 EXPRESSIONS OF 

The Trustees of the Pubhc School Society being 
informed of the sudden decease of his Excellency De 
Witt Chnton, who, among his other testimonials of 
public esteem and confidence, has held the office of 
president of this society from its first organization, 

Resolved, As the sense of this board, that, while it 
is our duty to bend with unmurmuring submission to 
the will of divine providence, we view this event as a 
signal calamity to our country, to the cause of science 
and public improvement, and the many useful institu- 
tions of which the deceased was a distinguished orna- 
ment and patron. That he occupied a large place in 
the affection and respect of his countrymen, as one of 
their most able and successful benefactors, and that, 
as connected with this and similar associations, the 
cause of literature and benevolence has sustained, in 
his death, an unspeakable and irreparable loss. 

On motion, Resolved, That Messrs. Cowdry, Roose- 
velt and Collins, be a committee to adopt such further 
measures in relation to this melancholy event, as shall 
appear suitable. 

Resolved, That a copy of the above preamble and 
resolutions be certified, and forwarded to the widow 
and relatives of the deceased, and that the proceed- 
ings of the board on this occasion be pubhshed in our 
daily papers. 

Extract of the minutes of the New-York Chamber of 
Commerce, February 18, 1828. 
The following preamble and resolutions were moveci 



PUBLIC SENTIMENt. l39 

by W. W. Woolsey, and seconded by Henry Beekman, 
The members of the New- York Chamber of Coni- 
merce justly estimating the private virtues and public 
services of his Excellency De Witt Clinton, late 
governor of the state, deeply deplore the loss which 
his death has occasioned to this state and to the na- 
tion. 

His devotion to the cause of science and literature, 
and to the benevolent institutions wliich distinguish 
the present day : his successful efforts to promote 
schools among the great body of our citizens, by 
which nearly half a million of our youth receive the 
benefits of education : his genius in proj ecting, and 
his untiring zeal in carrying into effect, the great 
scheme of internal navigation, which has already 
united the Hudson with the inland seas of the north, 
and will soon lead to a similar union with the im- 
mense waters of the west, and lay open to the com- 
merce of this city fertile countries whose shores are 
not inferior in extent to the shores of Europe — all 
show the superiority of his mind ; that it was directed 
to the most patriotic objects, and that its efforts have 
been crowned with the most splendid success. 

Resolved, That a copy of this minute be transmitted 
to the family of the late Governor Clinton, witli tlie 
most respectful assurance that the Chamber of Conj- 
merce, of New- York, realize the great loss wliich 
they have sustained, and participate in that sorrow 
occasioned by this afflictive dispensation of provi- 
dence. 



140 EXPRESSIONS OF 

Resolved, That the president, vice-presidents, and 
secretaries, be a committee to perform this melancholy 
seiTice. 

On motion. Resolved, As a mark of the sincere re- 
spect which the members of the Cliamber entertain 
for the character and services of Governor Clinton, 
that they will wear the usual badge of mourning, for 
one month. 

CITY OF NEW- YORK, 

In Common Council, Feb 16, 1828. 

Mr. Seaman presented the following resolutions, 
which were unanimously adopted : 

The Common Council of the city of New-York 
having been informed of the death of De Witt Clin- 
ton, late governor of the state of New-York, and be- 
ing deeply impressed with this dispensation of divine 
providence, and feeling, in common with their fellow- 
citizens, the loss the state of New -York and the nation 
at large have sustained in his sudden removal from 
the scene of liis usefulness, and being desirous of ren- 
dering to his memory a sincere and heart-felt tribute 
of respect — therefore — 

Resolved unanimously, That the president's chair 
be dressed in mourning, and that the members of the 
Common Council wear crape on the left arm for the 
space of thirty days. That it be recommended to the 
shipmasters of the several American vessels now in 
port to hoist their colours half-mast on Sunday next. 



K^BLID ^tlNTIMENT. 141 

Resolved, That the reverend the clei-gy of the city, 
be respectfully requested, in tlie name of the Common 
Council, to notice, in an appropriate and solemn man- 
ner, in their respective churches, to-morrow, the deep 
bereavement sustained by our common country, by 
the death of our cliief magistrate and fellow-citizen, 
De Witt Chnton. 

Resolved unanimously. That copies of these reso- 
lutions be transmitted by his honour the mayor to the 
family of the late Governor Clinton, with the sincere 
condolence of the corporation of the city of New- 
York, with those who are so deeply and more imme- 
diately afflicted by this dispensation. 

The following was presented by Alderman Lamb, 
and adopted: 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed, with au- 
thority to make arrangements and to carry them into 
effect, for such further demonstrations of the respect 
of this Common Coimcil for the memory of the de- 
ceased, and of their higli sense of the eminent services 
he has rendered the city and state, as they may judge 
proper. 

REV. DR. MILNOR'S SERMON. 

The excellent discourse of this excellent divine, on 
the subject of the national bereavement recently sus- 
tained in the death of De Witt Clinton, has been 
printed at the request of the vestry of Ht. George's 
church, and we have been politely favoured with a 

N 



14^ EXPRESSIONS OF 

copy of it. We speak high praise when we say that 
it is written with the usual force and elegance of its 
erudite and pious author, and treats the question, 
which has of late been so much discussed, in conse- 
quence of Bishop Hobart's letter, in a manner that 
most entirely accords with our views of the subject. 
Notwithstanding tliat our space will scarcely permit 
it, we cannot forbear copying the annexed extract, 
and regret that we are unable to afford room for a 
more extended one. 

" The plans of Omnipotence are achieved by human 
instruments; and it is not inconsistent with the para- 
mount claims of God to honour those whom he so 
higl^ly honours, as to constitute them the agents of 
his benefactions to mankind. To those whom he 
employs to accomplish his designs of goodness, if 
faithful in the discharge of the functions committed to 
their trust, a subordinate measure of gratitude and 
respect is justly due. They deserve to be honoured 
while they live; and when they die, a nation's tears 
may well bedew tlieir graves, and grateful memory 
delight to perpetuate their fame. 

The remark is true in the most general sense. 
The occasion calls for its special application to such 
as have occupied distinguished public stations. And 
we do not hesitate to say, that to such, a tribute of re- 
spect is due; that to render it is consonant widi the 
apostolic precept in our text ; and, so long as it ex- 
ceeds not the meHts of its subject, and derogates not 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 143 

from the superior reverence we owe to God, it con- 
travenes no principle of our holy faith. It is but the 
payment of a well-earned debt, to praise the man 
whose ambition has employed itself in great, and ex- 
cellent, and useful objects. It is not to the idle 
incumbent of hereditary honours ; it is not to the man 
raised to distinction by base and treacherous artifice, 
or lawless force ; it is not to one mistakenly elevated 
to a rank, which he disgraces by arrogance and pride, 
we are called to render honour ; but to the honest states- 
man, rising into public favour by inherent worth, and 
patriotic effort, and constantly employing his distin- 
guished telents to the public good ; and to the memo- 
ry of such a man we would advocate, without the 
smallest scruple, a munificent return of public grati- 
tude and praise. Flattery, the character of our holy 
rehgion and of our civil institutions, alike forbid. But 
where history has already recorded evidences of 
personal and official worth which time cannot obhter- 
ate, nor ingratitude itself deface, there can be no of- 
fence in eulogy. 

Such is the case of that illustrious man whom we 
have seen, with awful suddenness, cut down in the 
midst of his days, and of a career of public useful- 
ness in which few would venture to present them- 
selves as his competitors. We can say of De Witt 
Clinton, not in the sycophantic spirit of Tertullus to 
Felix, but in the chastened soberness of truth, that 
"by him we have enjoyed great quietness, and by his 



144 EXPRESSIONS OF 

providence very worthy deeds have been done to our 
whole nation." Then let us give his memory its 
due. Let us render honour to whom honour justly 
appertains. It is doing homage to virtue itself to 
honour its possessor, and w^ell deserved commenda- 
tion of the dead may assist to excite tlie living to a 
noble emulation of his bright example. 

It is in this view, and under such impressions, that 
I feel a glow of grateful satisfaction mingled with no 
ordinary sensibility, in according my feeble tribute of 
respect to the memory of the distinguished chief 
magistrate of whom the state has been bereaved. The 
events in which he bore a conspicuous part will fill a 
large place in the history of our country ; and some 
faitliful biographer, of talents commensurate to his 
noble subject, will hand down the name of Clinton 
to the admiration of a late posterity.'' 

At a meeting of the board of Trustees of the College 
of Physicians and Surgeons, on Friday 22d inst. the 
following preamble and resolutions were unanimously 
adopted : 

Whereas, the College of Physicians and Surgeons 
deeply participate in the regret manifested by their 
fellow-citizens on the occasion of the death of De 
Witt Clinton, late governor of tliis state, therefore, 

Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed 
from this board, to confer with the committee of the 
Medical Society of the county of New-York, appoint- 



PUBLIC SENTlMEm. 145 

ed for the like purpose ; in order to adopt such mea- 
sures as they may deem proper, in testimony of re- 
spect for the deceased. 

Resolved, That the members of this board will 
wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. 

Resolved, That these resolutions be published, sign- 
ed by the President and Registrar, and that a copy of 
the same be transmitted to the family of the deceased. 

In conformity to the first resolution, Dr. A. W. Ives, 
Mr. James Campbell, Dr. F. U. Johnston, Mr. C. P. 
White, and Dr. Gilbert Smith, were appointed a com- 
mittee of this board. 

JOHN WATTS, Jr. President. 
N. H. DERING, Registrar. 

At a meeting of the board of professors of the Rut- 
ger's Medical Faculty of Geneva College, at their hall, 
on Friday evening, February 15th, 1828, on motion, 
resolved, that this board unite with the public in 
lamenting the loss of their late distinguished fellow- 
citizen, De Witt Clinton, governor of the state of 
New-York, whose splendid talents and important 
services have elevated the character of his native 
state, and enrolled his name among the most success- 
ful votaries of science and the greatest benefactors of 
mankind. 

Resolved, That the professors of this college, in 
testimony of their respect for the deceased, wiH 



N 



* 



146 EXPRESSIONS OF 

wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days. 
Resolved, That these proceedings be published. 
DAVID HOSACK, M. D. 

President of the faculty. 
JOHN W. FRANCIS, M. D. 

Registrar. 

At a special meeting of the New-York Literary and 
Philosophical Society, convened at their chamber in 
the New-York Institution, 18th Feb. 1828, the fol- 
lowing resolutions were unanimously adopted. 

On motion, resolved, that this society are deeply 
sensible of their loss, as well as that of the state and 
nation, in the death of their late president, De Witt 
Clinton. 

Resolved, That Dr. David Hosack, the first vice- 
president of this society, be requested to pronouce a 
discourse commemorative of the worth and sendees 
of the deceased. 

Resolved, That the members of this society, in 
testimony of their respect for the talents and virtues 
of the deceased, will wear the usual badge of mourn- 
ing for thirty days. 

Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to 
carry into effect the above resolutions. Whereupon 
Professor Renwick, Dr. Van Rensselaer, Philip Hone, 
WiUiam Gracie and Dr. Pendleton, were appointed. 

Resolved, That the above resolutions be published. 

By order, 

J. VAN RENSSELAER, Secretary. 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 147 

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ALUMNI OF COLUMBIA COLLEGE. 

The association of the Alumni of Columbia College, 
having heard with deep sorrow of the death of their 
illustrious associate, De Witt Clinton, late governor 
of the state, deem it proper for them to make a public 
declaration of their sentiments and feelings on this 
very mournful event. Therefore, 

Resolved unanimously, At a general meeting held 
at the college-hall, on Tuesday, Feb. 19, that the 
Alumni of Columbia College, while they mingle their 
sorrow with that of their fellow-citizens, for the loss 
of their chief magistrate, whose elevated policy has 
eminently contributed to raise the glory, and promote 
the prosperity of the state, do yet feel themselves 
especially called upon to deplore his loss as the 
enUghtened and liberal patron of education and sci- 
ence. As the zealous and steady friend of the col- 
lege, and as its earliest Alumnus after the termination 
of the war of independence. 

Resolved, That in testimony of Mr. Clinton's 
eminent talents and virtues, and of their sincere soi- 
row for his death, the Alumni will wear crape on the 
left arm for thirty days. 

Resolved, That a copy of Mr. Chnton's last year's 
address to the Alumni be procured for publication, 
and that the same be forthwith put to press. 

Resolved, That the standing committee be empow- 
ered to carry tlie above resolution into effect, and also 
to adopt such further measures as may best express 



148 EXPRESSIONS OF 

the sentiments of respect entertained by the Alumni 
for the memory of their highly distinguished associ- 
ate. 

Resolved, That the chairman transmit to the family 
of Mr. Clinton a copy of the proceedings of this 
meeting, together with the expression of the sincere 
condolence of the Alumni for the severe bereavement 
which the family have suffered. By order of the 
meeting. 

NEVV-YORK STATE ARTILLERY— DIVISION ORDERS. 

Mw-York, Feb. I6th, 1828. 

The major-general has the melancholy duty of an- 
nouncing to the corps the death of the late commander 
in chief, his Excellency De Witt Clinton. He de- 
parted this life at Albany, on Monday the 11th inst. — 
On these mournful events, the mind naturally recurs 
to the character of the deceased, and the heart, with 
the kind feehngs with which nature has entwined it, 
brings out its virtues in strong rehef. But in the 
present event the judgment coincides with the feel- 
ings, and they unite in portraying the deceased as one, 
who, more than any other, has contributed to raise his 
native state to the proud eminence she now enjoys ; 
as one who on all occasions exerted his great pohti- 
cal influence in advancing the cause of science, and 
in fostering those institutions and those arts which 
'' soften and embelhsh life." 

But it is needless to detail the virtues of a character 



an 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. ] 49 

SO intimately known — his fame will be cherished by 
his countrymen as indissolubly connected with their 
own glory — and while wealth and abundance flow on 
the waters of the magnificent work which his capa- 
cious mind planned, and his fearless and determined 
spirit prosecuted to its completion, and amidst the 
cheerful smiles of industry which now enliven its 
banks, the name of CHnton will be remembered with 
increasing feelings of respect and gratitude. In the 
discharge of his military duties the deceased gained 
the esteem and confidence of those under his com- 
mand by his ready attention to their requests and by 
his kind and courteous demeanour. To the memory 
of such a man the corps would be desirous to render 
every possible respect. 

The military honours to be paid to the deceased are 
prescribed in general orders which have appeared in 
the gazettes under the date of the 12th inst. It is 
thereby directed, that the several companies of artille- 
ry throughout the state shall fire a gun at every half 
hour, from 12 o'clock until sunset, after the receipt of 
the intelligence of the decease of the late commander 
in chief. To give an opportunity to the several com- 
panies of the division to unite in the ceremoniol, the 
major-general has selected Wednesday, the 20th inst. 
for that purpose. The several corps of the division 
will appear under arms on that day at the Battery in 
the city of New- York, at 10 o'clock. They will ap- 
pear with the usual badges of mourning, which badges 



150 EXPRESSIONS 6p 

are to be worn by all officers in commission until aflei 
the next annual inspection and review of their respec- 
tive corps. 

The drums and other instruments of music are to 
be with mourning badges, and the standards will be 
furled with crape knots. The division will be formed 
in line at 10 o'clock, in open order as for review. — 
The major-general and suite on the right of the line—- 
the brigadier-generals and suites on the right of their 
brigades, and the other officers at their respective 
posts. The standards of the several regiments will 
be posted on the right of the whole line, and upon the 
order given, they will pass the line in front of the offi- 
cers, and on their return will take post with their re- 
spective regiments. The hne will salute as the stand- 
ards pass. The line will then take close order — the 
standards with a guard of honour will be posted in 
front of the centre of the line, attended by the major- 
general, the brigadier-generals, and their suites. The 
line will then wheel into platoons and march past the 
standard, saluting as it passes. All the movements 
are' to be made with drums muffled, and the bands 
playing a dirge. After the troops have passed the 
standards, the several detachments will break off and 
march in slow time to the posts hereafter designated, 
where the minute guns are to be fired. For this pur- 
purpose, the commandants of brigades will make the 
arrangements and give the necessary orders. For 
the purpose of the firings. General Spicer will order 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 151 

detachments with field pieces, to be posted at the fol- 
lowing places, viz : at Fort Gansevoort, at the North 
Batter}^, at the north side of Castle Garden, and at 
Corlaer's Hook, where they will fire as directed by 
general orders. General Arcularius for the same pur- 
pose, will order a detachment of horse artillery with 
two 6 pounders to be posted in front of Manhattan 
Market on the East river. 

General Spicer will cause the flag at the Battery to 
be hoisted at half-mast during the day. 

The requisite ammunition will be furnished on ap- 
phcation to Commissary-general Muir, at the arsenal. 
By order of Major-general Morton. 

WM. D. HENDERSON, Aid-de-camp. 

An emergent meeting of the R. W. Grand Lodge of 
Free and Accepted Masons for the State of New- 
York, held at the Grand Lodge Room in the city of 
New-York, on Tuesday, the 19th day of February, A. 
L. 5828, the following resolutions w^ere presented and 
unanimously adopted. 

Whereas, this Grand Lodge, duly estimating the 
great loss which they as Masons have sustained, in 
unison with the great body of their fellow-citizens, in 
the decease of their illustrious Brother, and M. W. 
Past Grand Master, De Witt Clinton. 

Therefore resolved, That the Members of this Grand 
Lodge do, with their fello\v-citizens, deeply deplore 
the loss of a man so highly distinguished for his en- 



152 EXPRESSIONS OP 

lightened, liberal and philanthropic mind, and whobe 
talents and perseverance have conferred a lasting ben- 
efit on his country, which will be to his name a per- 
petual monument. 

Resolved, That an Oration, commemorative of the 
virtues and talents of the deceased, he pronounced, 
and a solemn service performed at the next annual 
communication of this Grand Lodge. 

Resolved, That the officers and members of this 
Grand Lodge, as a mark of respect to the memory 
of their deceased P. G. Master, wear a badge of 
mourning on the left arm for thirty days, and that the 
Grand Lodge be put in mourning for the period of 
twelve months, and that the same be recommended to 
the subordinate lodges. 

Resolved, That the foregoing resolutions be com- 
municated to the family of the late M. W. P. G. Mas- 
ter, accompanied by a letter of condolence expressive 
of the deep sense of sorrow entertained by the mem- 
bers of the fraternity, for the loss of their revered and 
illustrious Brother. 

[Note. — Meetings were held by nearly, if not every corporate and 
public body in the city of New-York, to express their feelings, tut 
the proceedings of which, for want of room, are omitted, as well as 
several military and masonic orders.] 

From the Ontario Repository. 

The sudden and untimely death of this distinguish- 
ed man, has produced the deepest sensation through- 
out the state. A resplendent luminary, moving m 



jPUBLIC SENTlMENt. 153 

meridian glory, has fallen as in a moment from its 
orbit, and is quenched in darkness forever! It is 
meet, therefore, that we assume the emblems of 
mourning, and mingle our griefs and our regrets; for 
he that " sat chief" among us, who was our guide in 
council, and our benefactor, has suddenly been taken 
away, and our eyes shall no more behold him forever! 
The public honours, the mournful procession, the 
solemn obsequies, paid to his mortal remains, are 
tributes of respect, just and appropriate, and bespeak 
our veneration for his character, and sense of out 
own bereavement : — but to him, lodged in his dark 
and narrow mansion, how vain and unavailing! Oh, 
on his ear, locked in the stillness of death, the voice of 
eulogy, and the farewell peal of artillery, fall alike 
unheeded and unheard! 

How impressive the admonition which this event 
conveys to tlie living ! how forcible its rebuke to the 
eagerness of ambition ! Death lays his hand alike 
upon " the mighty'' and the mean, and levels them 
both in the dust. Regardless of their plans of pubhc 
utility, their schemes of ambition^ and their prospects 
of fame, he utters his stern mandate, " Return ye chil- 
dren of men." 

The death of this distinguished citizen, though un- 
expected, has not been premature. In the midst of 
his years and his usefulness he lias fitllen; but he has 
lived to complete a monument to his fame, which the 

revolutions of time shall neither obUterate nor impair. 

o 



154 EXPRESSIONS O^ 

Sacceeding generations, when they shall behold those 
mighty works of internal improvement, which owe 
their origin and consummation to the enhghtened 
views and liberal pohcy of De Witt Clinton, shall 
bless his memory, and proclaim his praises as a 
statesman and public benefactor. 

From the Buffalo Emporium. 

The death of Mr. Clinton, the news of which 
reached this place on Saturday, is an event of the 
most afflicting nature; and casts a deep and general 
gloom over the state. New- York has sustained and 
irreparable bereavement, and may well display the 
tokens of sadness; for if it be right to indulge in sor- 
row and mourning at any dispensation of providence, 
it is when the public benefactor, the great and good 
man, pays the debt of nature. 

At a time when he was considered in the vigour of 
life, and hardly having reached the zenith of hi« 
bright career; when we had every reason to liope 
for a continuance of his usefulness ; while standing 
at the head of his native state, where the suffrages of 
an enlightened and grateful people had placed, and 
long sustained him ; while the eyes of the American 
repubUc were turned towards him, anticipating the 
day when his towering genius should wield the desti- 
nies of the nation — a mysterious prcjvidence has cut 
him down. A vacancy is left in the councils of New- 
York not easily supplied. 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 155 

As a scholar, a patriot, and a statesman, Mr. Clin- 
ton stood among the first of the age, if not without 
a rival. The institutions and public works of New- 
York, the theatre of his glory, bear imperishable 
marks of his genius, and pronounce his eulogy. — 
Long will her citizens cherish his recollection. If 
Mr. Clinton has received injustice at the hands of 
some of his cotemporaries, time, the redresser of all 
wrongs, will make restitution, and justice will be 
done to his memory. Connected with the history of 
our country, his name will stand enrolled among the 
Illustrious of American sages. 

From the Utica Sentinel. 
DEATH OF DE WITT CLINTON. 

Before this paper will have reached our readers, 
public rumour, which, in transmitting and agitating 
important occurrences, outstrips all mechanical inven- 
tions, will have announced to all, that a great man 
has fallen! De Witt Clinton is no more! The 
announcement bears with it a flood of sensations, 
which at first rush with a rapidity too overpowering 
for utterance. It is not until the tide of our feelings 
becomes somewhat subdued, that we can trust our- 
selves to comment upon so solemn an event, to dwell 
upon the fair and illustrious traits of his character, or 
glance at the magnitude and extent of his services. — 
He expired suddenly, of an apoplectic attack, while 
conversing with two of his sons in his study, on 



1/J6 EXPRESSIONS OF 

Monday evening last, at about seven o'clock, liaving 
been previously in his usual health. 

With his last breath departed all remembrance of 
his faults and every feeling of animosity, inevitably en- 
gendered by collision with his fellow-beings upon the 
great theatre of hfe — ^but not so with his virtues, the 
monuments of his genius, or his fame. These are 
imperishable. They are engraven indelibly upon the 
hearts of his fellow-citizens, and impressed with a 
trace that can never be obliterated, upon the very 
features of his country. His name is indissolubly 
connected with the most stupendous work of the age, 
— a measure, which, in a great degi-ee, owed its 
adoption to his brilliant genius, its commencement to 
his forcible eloquence, and its final completion to his 
vigorous and untiring energies. The Erie Canal will 
prove a monument more sure and lasting to his fame, 
than the pyramids of Egypt to the vanity of their 
builders ; for the one will confer benefits upon man- 
kind and claim their gratitude, to the remotest gener- 
ations, Vi'hereas the other can claim no merit but that 
of crumbling to the dust a few centuries later than 
those whose vain glory raised them from it. The 
age in which we live is one of utility ; all efforts tend 
to this object, every invention of genius has this di- 
rection ; and he, who should waste his ow^n and the 
energies of his country for any other purpose, would 
acquire only an immortality for folly. Utility has 
been the errand characteristic of all Mr. Clinton's ef- 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 157 

forts ; and who can pretend to estimate the value of 
their practical results ? They can only be developed 
in the revolution of centuries, and posterity alone can 
fix the standard at which they are to be estimated. 

Wherever his genius descended, it shed Hght and 
beauty ; v/hatever his spirit grappled, it betrayed mas- 
tery and power. Jfihil tetlgit quod non ornavit^ and 
we may add, quod non vincit. 

From the St. Lawrence Gazette. 

States, like individuals, have their days of prosperi- 
ty, and days of adversity ! Times of mourning and 
times of rejoicing! Why is it that the intelhgencers 
of the day come to us dressed in sable ? Why does 
the great state of New-York mourn? Is it because 
her prosperity has fled and adversity overtaken her ?^ 
No ! She continues her steady march in improve- 
ment and prosperity — onward — onward ; leaving far 
behind her sister states ! But she weeps hke a be- 
reaved mother ! It is the deep-toned mourning for 
the loss of her native son ! Her De Witt Clinton 
is no more! He is gone to "that bourne from 
whence no traveller returns !" Although his grave 
has closed forever, she can still behold him in his 
stupendous works — in the moral influence he has ex- 
erted, and in the rushing spirit of improvement 
spreading itself with rapidity over the whole coun- 
try. How has he accomplished this ? Was it be- 
cause he occupied the highest official station in the 



158 EXPRESSIONS OF 

union — drawing around him the patronage of the 
chief magistrate of the nation, and wielding the con- 
stitutional powers of the United States? No ! his 
highest official station was simply a governor of a 
single state. But he wielded the mighty energies of 
his own giant mind, and gave an irresistible impetus 
to all his grand measures of advancement and im« 
provement. 

From the JVestem Courier. 
"HOW ARE THE MIGHTY FALLEN." 

The unexpected death of our chief magistrate, will 
awaken one common sympathy throughout our state. 
Party animosity will now be buried, and the virtues 
of a great man's memory be cherished with the 
generous flow of lamentation and sorrow . At a mo- 
ment when least expected, he has been snatched 
away to a home among his fathers. 

The arm of the Almighty reached him and he fell. 
In the midst of his usefulness, and in the active duties 
of his exalted station, he was arrested, and is no 
more. His career of life has ceased, but not until 
the value of his character had reached our farthest 
shores. The sun of his glory has indeed set. No 
cheering prospects now brighten upon his view. The 
chamber of our executive is in mourning. It will no 
longer greet him welcome to a seat in its counsels. 
All is dark, and dreary, and desolate, where once the 
statesman presided ; and lonely there may his sue- 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 159 

cesser read the uncertainty and mutability of all things 
human. 

In life, our deceased governor shared no ordinary 
part in the commotions of pohtics. The writer of 
this article was one among his opponents. It shall 
have no part now in denying his claims to the grati- 
tude of his country. History will have the full 
weight of his talents and his worth. The extent of 
his fame will yet be seen in the school of science. It 
will descend to distant time, brightening amid the 
convulsions of our political horizon, an orb whose 
splendours will outride the tempest of war, and pre- 
serve from oblivion the memory of his virtues. 

[Note.— It is necessary to remark, that every public journal in this 
state, upon the receipt of the mournful intelligence, paid tribute to the 
memory of Mr. Clinton; but a very large portion are omitted in this 
work for want of room. Indeed, the great difficultjr the compiler en- 
countered, was in compressing and abridging the various notices.] 

HOKOURABZii: TESTIlAOXrV. 

In the Common Council of the city of Schenectady 
the following resolutions, offered by Mr. Linn, were 
unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That this Common Council learn with 
deep regret, the sudden decease of his Excellency 
De Witt Clinton, governor of this state, and that 
they feel, in common with their fellow-citizens, the 
loss sustained by this afflictive dispensation of provi- 
dence, in thus cutting off, in the midst of his useful- 
ness, one, ahke celebrated for his public and hm 
private virtues. 



160 EXPRESSIONS OF 

Resolved, As a testimonial of regret for his decease 
and respect for his memory, that the members of this 
board wear the usual badge of mourning for the space 
of thirty days. 

At a meeting of the inhabitants of the village of 
Herkimer and its vicinity, the following resolutions 
were unanimously adopted : 

This meeting having received intelligence of thib 
sudden, unexpected and afflicting dispensation of di- 
vine providence, in removing from this scene of trial, 
by death, his Excellency De Witt Clinton, for a long 
time the governor of this state, while in the bosom of 
his family, and in the full possession of the highest 
honours ; and that his mortal remains are to be inter- 
red with appropriate funeral ceremonies on the 14th 
inst. at 2 o'clock P. M. — and entertaining sentiments 
of sincere and unfeigned respect for the private vir- 
tues and eminent pubhc services of this distinguished 
man, as well as those emotions of deep regret which 
it becomes every good citizen to feel and to express, 
for a loss so great, so striking and so real to this state, 
and to the nation — 

Be it therefore resolved unanimously, That in testi- 
mony of the high respect wliich we bear to the memo- 
ry of the deceased Governor Clinton, the village bell 
shall be tolled from two to three o'clock in the after- 
noon of Thursday the 1 4th inst. and that minute guns 
be fired during said time — and further, that with the 



FUBLIC SENTIMENT. 161 

exception of the time during which minute guns are 
to be fired, half-hour guns shall be fired, commencing 
at 12 o'clock M. and ending at sunset; and that it be, 
and hereby is recommended to, and enjoined upon, 
the citizens of this village to keep their stores, offices 
and shops closed from 2 to 4 o'clock P. M. of that 
day. 

Resolved, That the individuals composing this 
meeting will adopt the usual badge of mourning for 
the deceased, by wearing crape on the left arm for 
tlie space of thirty days ; and that the same be re- 
commended to be worn by our fellow-citizens gene- 
rally. 

At a special meeting of the Board of Trustees of 
the village of Rochester, the following resolutions were 
adopted : 

Resolved, That this Board deeply sympathize with 
the public, in the death of an eminent citizen in the 
person of their patriotic and distinguished chief ma- 
gistrate, and deplore the same as a great pubhc loss. 

Resolved, That it be, and hereby is recommended 
to the several clergymen in this village to notice this 
afflicting dispensation, in an appropriate manner from 
their several pulpits, on Sunday next. 

Resolved, That it be, and hereby is recommended 
to the trustees of the several religious societies in this 
village, to cause the churches belonging to their re- 
spective societies to be hung with black on said day. 



162 EXPRESSIONS OF 

Resolved, That the clerk cause notice to be given 
to the respective clergymen in this village of the above 
resolutions. 

Resolved, That the clerk cause notice to be given 
for a public meeting of the citizens of this village, at 
Christopher's Mansion-House, this evening, to take 
into consideration such further measures as may be 
proper to be adopted for testifying their sense of such 
loss. 

At a meeting of the citizens of Kingston, the fol- 
low^ing resolutions were proposed and unanimously 
adopted : 

Resolved, That it becomes an enlightened and 
grateful people to cherish and perpetuate the memory 
of their fellow-citizens who have distinguished them- 
selves and added glory to their country by their acts 
of greatness and goodness. 

Resolved, That we received the melancholy intelli- 
gence of the death of De Witt Clinton, late governor 
of this state, with unmingled feelings of regret and 
sorrow : That we consider his death a great national 
loss, and one which will be most severely felt by the 
state over wliich he has so long, so ably, and so faith- 
fully presided. 

Resolved, That the secretary transmit to the family 
of the lamented Clinton, a copy of the resolutions and 
proceedings of this meeting. 

It being intimated to the meeting that the Rev. Mr. 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 163 

Gosman had been informally requested to preach a 
funeral sermon on the occasion for which they have 
assembled — on motion, 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed to wait 
on the Rev. Mr. Gosman, immediately, and request 
him, in behalf of this meeting, to preach a funeral ser- 
mon on the event of the nmch lamented death of his 
Excellency Governor CHnton. 

At a meeting' of the inhabitants of Canandaigua, 
the following resolutions were reported, and being 
severally read, were unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That the citizens of Canandaigua deeply 
lament the afflictive dispensation of divine providence, 
in the sudden removal, by death, of the late illustrious 
chief magistrate of this state. 

Resolved, That in the death of De Witt Clinton, 
the state of New -York has been deprived of a public 
benefactor, and the nation of a most distinguished 
statesman. 

Resolved, That the legislature of this state, by the 
unanimity with which they have adopted measures 
expressive of their respect for the memory of our la- 
mented governor, and of their sympathy with his be- 
reaved family, have consulted their own honour and 
the feelings of theii constituents. 

Resolved, That it is pecuharly becoming in the citi- 
zens of the western part of this state, to testify by pub- 
lic demonstrations, their sorrow for the loss of one 



i64 EXPRESSIONS OF 

who has left among them the monument of his fame, 
in the great and permanent works achieved by his 
enhghtened policy. 

Resolved, That the committee above-named be in- 
structed to take measures for such further public ex- 
pression of respect for the memory of the late chief 
magistrate, as they may deem proper. 

A funeral procession, in respect to Governor Clin- 
ton, was had at Racket's Harbour on the 21st of 
February, The regular troops from the garrison, 
under Major N. S. Clarke, the officers of the 189th 
regiment of mihtia, a numerous body of citizens, and 
the masonic fraternity, were in the procession. It 
proceeded from the Union Hotel to the Presbyterian 
church, where an eulogy was pronounced by Colonel 
Ehsha Camp. Minute guns were fired during the 
funeral solemnities. After the procession was dis- 
missed, the masonic fraternity retired to their Hall, 
where they passed resolutions in testimony of their 
profound grief at the loss of their eminent brother. 

A civil and military procession was formed at Ba- 
tavia, in respect to the memory of Governor Clinton. 
Funeral exercises were performed in St. James' 
church, and D. H. Chandler delivered an eulogy. — 
Minute guns were fired and bells tolled during the 
moving of the procession. 

In the evening,* a large audience assembled at the 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 165 

Masonic Hall, where divine service was performed, 
and an appropriate address delivered by the Rev. Mr, 
Salmon. 

[Note. — It becomes necessary for the compiler again to remark, 
that public demonstrations of sorrow and regret, were shewn in al- 
most every village, town, and city within the state, but notices of 
which are omitted here, for want of room.] 

Extracts from an eloquent oration, delivered at 
Cherry- Valley, by James Brackett^ Esquire. 
" In contemplating the character of such a mar. as 
Mr. Clinton, the mind naturally seeks for a parallel 
among the great and distinguished names of antiquity. 
Pericles, adorning his own Athens; founding schools 
and diffusing knowledge among her sons ; encourag- 
ing industry and art ; rewarding ingenuity and great 
attainments ; caUing in statuaries and painters from 
the neighbouring states ; and making his native inter- 
est the pride of Greece, affords the most striking re- 
semblance. The resemblance holds also in the love 
of both for elegant literature, useful knowledge, and 
masculine eloquence. But here, it is hoped, that the 
parallel may end. Pericles was the last of the Athe- 
nians, combining the republican firmness and simpli- 
city with a love of arts and letters, and with his death 
the glory of x\thens dechned. Mr. Chnton stands the 
first and pre-eminent benefactor of his native state 
in her arts, in her improvements, in her scientific 
advances ; and with his death may not her substanr 
tail glory become retrograde ; but be progressive, till 

p 



166 EXPRESSIONS OF 

she shall be the pride and wonder of civihzed, enlight- 
ened man. 

" With great men as with mighty rivers, some are 
admired for the length and rapidity of their course ; 
some for the salubrity of their waters ; some for the 
fertility of their banks; some for the depth and safety 
of their channels; some for the bearing with their cur- 
rent golden sands ; and some for their majestic march 
to the ocean. His native Hudson furnishes a strik- 
ing illustration of Mr. Chnton's character; straight, 
clear, deep; combining beauty and grandeur with 
utility ; serving as a channel of communication be- 
tween the North and West on the one hand, and the 
South and East on the other. Majestic river! IN- 
COMPARABLE MAN. 

"Though dead, he is not lost to the state or com- 
munity. His name survives : it is stamped on every 
improvement of his country, on every monument of 
her art during his age. But is this all? No: histo- 
ry HAS THE KEEPING OF HIS FAME I and, proud of the 
treasure, she will hang it up as conspicuously as if it 
sparkled among tlie signs of the Zodiac. All coming 
time, will tell of his genius, his industiy, his labours, 
his patriotism. His example will serve as a beacon 
to studious, virtuous, aspiring, ambitious youth. — 
Should tlicy follow it, shipwreck need not be feared. 

" The noble Romans put the images of their ances- 
tors into the vestibules of their houses; that, both 
going in and coming out, they might see them ; and 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 167 

thus be incited to remember their virtues, their great 
and heroic quaUties ; and be taught to emulate both 
in their hves. The success answered the design. — 
That repubhc became famous; and increased in 
wealth, strength, dignity and honour, till con^uption 
and degeneracy entered and prostrated the fair fab- 
rick in ruins. 

" We ought to cherish the example of Mr. Clinton, 
who has now gone to join the bright galaxy of our 
departed worthies, and take his stand beside them on 
the rolls of fame, as the Romans did the busts of 
their ancestors. Every country has in the characters 
of her great men her riches?t inheritance. In propor- 
tion as she cherishes their memories, and imitates 
their virtues and great and noble quahties, is her pro- 
gress to true honour and moral elevation. 

" The state of New-York, true to her own glory, can 
never forget her Clinton." 

Extracts from an eloquent address, delivered at 
Batavia, by the Hon. David H, Chandler. 
"t4 great man has fdlen — a public benefactor has 
gone to his long home, and the mourners go about 
the streets. Nearly a million and a half, who have 
been the immediate recipients of his muniticence, and 
of his watchful care, have suddenly, and at a moment 
they thought not of, been shorn of a patron who loved 
them, and of a statesman who guarded with untiring 
zeal their civil and religious liberties. He, who but 



168 EXPRESSIONS OF 

yesterday stood proudly at the helm of the siaie, and 
with a mind matured and fertihzed by experience, 
directed the bark safely through every storm which 
beat upon it, — to-day, sleeps in the narrow house!— 
That form, upon which nature had stamped her bold- 
est device — 

" Where every god did seem to set his seal, 
To give the world assurance of a man" — 

has now been committed to the earth, and must short- 
ly mingle v^^ith the dust from which it was created : — 
That mind, formed of the richest gems of nature, and 
profound as science and philosophy could make it, is 
now a mighty chaos. The tyrant who levels all dis- 
tinctions, and against whose awful visitations the 
prince upon the throne is not more secure than the 
mendicant who begs for bread, has now laid low him., 
who was more to be envied then princes — him, 
whose name will be cherished with tenderness and 
respect, while the potentate and the tyrant shall have 
been despised, or forgotten. 

" Upon every page of our history will be recorded 
the products of his labours, and the munificence of 
his philanthropy. He has been a tried and faithful 
public servant, emulous rather of dispensing happi- 
ness than coveting honours. Through a long life of 
useful activity, his mind has been vigorously exerted 
to amehorate the condition of his fellow-citizens ; and 
although he sought with avidity political distinction, 
ke never indulged the fallacious hope that it could be 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 169 

attained by the assumption of power, or in the con- 
flicts of party. He was ahvays found indentified 
with the best interests of his country ; and if by the 
measures he projected, she were honoured, he was 
not forgotten. He lived until he became identifi- 
ed WITH ALL OUR FREE INSTITUTIONS, AND UNTIL THE 

MEASURE OF HIS FAME WAS FULL, — and yct he died in 
the full vigour of a useful life, and in the complete 
possession of those energies of mind, so fruitful in 
dispensing happiness. He lived until the bitterness 
of political asperity had subsided, and until the com- 
mon voice concurred in conferring upon him the dis- 
tinguished honour of 'PUBLIC BENEFACTOR.'" 

Extract from an eloquent oration, dehvered at 
Jacket's Harbour, by Elisha Cainp, Esquire. 

"We have assembled to deplore the loss of a 
favourite son of America. One whose virtues, talents 
and patriotism has shed a lustre upon the character 
of our country. It is to commemorate events which 
have benefitted the republic, and to excite to honour- 
able emulation in its service. It is, to evidence to the 
world and posterity, that we hold in high estimation, 
the memory of one who has devoted much time and 
great talents to the welfare of the community. 

"He stood as it were in the meridian of his glory; 
and we had cherished the fond hope, of years of his 
continued splendour in the honourable discharge of 
public duty. But a superintending providence ha*^ 



170 EXPRESSIONS OF 

otherwise ordered it, and we bow with submission to 
the will of Him, who controuls alike the fate of indi- 
viduals and of nations. 

" He most sedulously devoted himself to the promo- 
tion of that Grand Work^ which will perpetuate his 
fame as long as the water of the lakes shall waft to 
the ocean, on the bosom of our canal, the produc- 
tions of the interior of this and the western states. It 
will remain a monument of wisdom and utility.^ more 
durable and honourable than any w^hich have ever 
been erected by kings or conquerors, whose merits 
have seldom extended beyond a capacity to diminish 
the number of their fellow-men. Let us review in 
imagination this highly gifted son of America, in- 
stead of becoming the first magistrate of our nation, 
stripped of all his honours, and, by the most unjust 
calumnies, reduced to the station of a private citizen. 
View him unmoved by the malevolence, ingratitude 
and poverty that encompassed him, devising new and 
splendid plans to promote the welfare of his country. 
Witness him besieging the legislature, year after year, 
to enhst them in that grand system of internal im- 
provement, which was alleged to be too vast to be 
effected by the resources of our country. Bring to 
recollection that manly perseverance, in enlightening 
ihe ignorant, conciliating the envious, and arousing 
the patriotic, and finally, by the energies of his talents, 
bending to his views a majority of the legislature, as 
it were asrainst their own convictions and that of 



I 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 171 

most of their constituents. See him devoting some 
of his most valuable years and the greatest talents, in 
gratuitously sustaining, against the weapons of ridi- 
cule, incredulity and political opposition, those mea- 
sures which he deemed important to the interests of 
present and future generations. See him regardless 
of his own interests and anxious only to secure to his 
country the benefits he had anticipated, by super- 
intending the completion of the artificial channel, of 
which he was the distinguished champion. Where 
then shall we find his equal amongst the distinguish- 
ed sons of our country? Who then can cherish any 
other than sentiments of admiration and respect for 
the memory of so DEVOTED A BENEFACTOR." 

From the New-York American. 

Thus has perished all that can die of such a man. 
The name of De Witt Clinton is identified with the 
history of his country, as that of an eminent, active, 
and most influential pohtician. It is still more glori- 
ously identified with it as a public benefactor, who 
availed himself of the power and weight of his political 
character to foster education, to promote and diffuse 
the humane and peaceful arts, and to improve the 
condition and exalt the character of his countrymen. 
In the great work of internal improvement, he perse- 
vered through good report and through evil report, 
with a steadiness of purpose that no obstacle could 
divert, and when all the elements were in commotion 



172 EXPRESSIONS OF 

around him, and even his chosen associates were ap- 
paUed, HE ALONE, LIKE COLUMBUS, on the 

wide waste of waters, in his frail bark, with a dis- 
heartened and unbeheving crew, remained firm, self- 
poised, and unshaken. Is it extravagant or unjust to 
say, that, like Columbus, he was recompensed by 
opening new worlds to our intercourse — ^vast regions, 
which the canals of New-York must be the means of 
subduing, civihzing, enriching I 

Of Mr. Clinton's political career, we have at no 
time been the admirer : nor can the event, which we, 
in common with the nation deplore, in any manner 
alter our estimate of that. To his personal character, 
his love of literature, his industrious habits, his devo- 
tion to humane and liberal studies, his sohcitude for 
the institutions that adorn, and the charities that con- 
sole and reheve, the mixed condition of our common 
nature, we do full justice. 

In all the private relations of a father and a husband, 
Mr. Clinton was most exemplary, amiable, and in- 
dulgent. 

JSote. — It is worthy of remark, that every public 
journal in this state, in communicating the intelli- 
gence, was clad in the habiliments of mourning. — 
Solemn funeral processions, as upon tlie death of 
General Wasliington, took place in several towns. 
Preachers of the gospel spoke of his virtues, and 
mourned his departure, from within tl^e walls of the 
sanctuary. In sliort, every proper demonstration of 
grief was evinced by all classes, upon the extinction 
OF THE GREAT LUMINARY. 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT 

THROUGHOUT THE 

WLnittta SiUttu. 

Extracts from a beautiful eulogium from the pen of 
S. Simpson^ Esq. of Philadelphia. 

" To die, is the fate of all men — a fate, fixed by the 
im alterable decrees of nature, which, nor power, nor 
rank, nor genius can avert; but to die full of years, 
and crowned with honours, an object of envy to the 
great, of admiration to the million, of rivalry to the 
ambitious, beloved by friends, venerated by the world, 
and lamented by all who appreciate virtue, genius, 
and learning — is the chosen destiny of the select few, 
whom God has endowed with the high and command- 
ing attributes of mind, and exalted in the sphere of 
humanity, by combining virtue with genius, and be- 
nevolence with science. To descend to the tomb thus 
full of glory, thus followed by the tears and the lamen- 
tations of milhons of free people, is not to die, but 
rather to change an earthly for an eternal existence ; 
and to come into the inheritance of that immortality 
of renown, which is the reward of a life, nobly spent 
in promoting the felicity of the species, advancing the 
prosperity of the nation, giving vigour to freedom, and 
durability and perfection to our free institutions, 



i74 EXPRESSIONS OlP 

"Thus has descended to the tomb, DE WITT 
CLINTON; a man, who, in whatever hght we view 
him, strikes the beholder with the traits of genius, and 
the altitude of greatness. ^ s a politician, who could 
outstrip him in the race of glory? As a statesman, 
where shall we seek for his equal, or his superior? — 
As a man, who is more virtuous, amiable, engaging, 
benevolent, and urbane. As a scholar, who can boast 
learning more profound, judgment more sohd, taste 
more refined, imagination more creative, invention 
more sublime and beautiful, and composition more 
classical, eloquent, and melodious — simple in its pro- 
portions, but beautiful in its structure, like the tem- 
ples of Greece, replete with grace and grandeur, but 
so chaste, that all traces of labour were lost in the 
brilhancy of its effect. 

" His mind was created to soar, and by necessary 
consequence, the bent of his genius was to improve 
mankind by new creations. Thus, he has stamped 
the impress of his genius on the age in which he 
flourished. A waste of useless waters lay embedded 
on the earth, accidentally beneficial in a partial de- 
gree to the powers of man — but directed, governed, 
and regulated by the genius of Chnton — they became 
the fountain of abundance, the source of individual 
opulence, and the basis of national grandeur. 

"No man in the country could boast superiority to 
Chnton, in all tl^at related to the science of govern- 
ment, and none could claim to be his equal in the art 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 175 

of government^ two very distinct branches of intellectual 
power, and but seldom found united in the same indi- 
vidual. 

"Such is the grand outline of the colossal genius 
OF De Witt Clinton. In tilling up the picture, count- 
less charms attract the eye, and splendid incidents, 
while they captivate the fancy, also enchain tlie heart. 

"Among the chief constituent qualities of greatness 
are moral courage, energy and decision. The noblest 
invention may project, the acutest ingenuity devise 
schemes of national utiHty; but they will burst into 
air, unless reinforced by vigour of execution, and in- 
flexible determination. These attributes appeared in 
bold relief in the character of Clinton. When he pro- 
jected his grand canal system, fools were convulsed 
with laughter, and factionists thundered their male- 
diction through the union. But the great mind of 
Clinton, remained firm and immoveable, sustained by 
the consciousness of his superior genius, and the 
force of a colossal intellect, that could see what f others 
were blind to. Few men possess this 7noral courage 
in so extraordinary a degree as did De Witt Clinton, 
because few men are so lavishly endowed with the 
omnipotence of genius. He lived to see the laugeter 
of fools converted into adulation of his wisdom; and 
the gi'owls of party change to the acclamations of ap- 
plause. 

" Wherever a river rolls its waters to feed a canal, 
wherever a college, or a school rears its little spire, or 



176 EXPRESSIONS OF 

lofty dome, to indicate its spiritual aim ; wherever lib- 
erty is loved, and the rights of the people prized, the 
name of Clinton will live — not in mouth honour only 
— but in the deep affections of the heart — in gratitude 
for his pubhc benefactions and services ; in admira- 
tion of his genius, and in veneration for his philan- 
thropy. 

" Let no one so far mistake, as to suppose I am at- 
tempting to write the eulogium of De Witt Clinton 1 
f am not qualified for the task — I have not set phrases 
and drilled thoughts, suited to the theme. Nor does 
Clinton require an eulogium. There too, he is supe- 
rior to most men, on whom the world, with little dis- 
crimination, lavish the title of great. His eulogy is 
written on the page of the nation — not the page of 
history — ^but on the face of our soil, on our rivers, 
our canals, our literature, our science, our legislation, 
our institutions, and our chai'ters of hberty. No, 
thank God, Clinton's glory requires no presidential 
honours, no eulogium's extravagance, to make it full, 
splendid and perfect. From my soul do I pity the 
man, who appreciates genius by the standard of of- 
fice, or bestows upon office, the homage that ought 
only to be consecrated to genius. 

" In relation to the state of New- York, the works, the 
name and the glory of Clinton, must form a stupen- 
dous monument of pride and renown ! Why ? When 
that question is put, or an answer wanted, all monu- 
ments will be useless — all worth of no account — all 
virtue a chimera — all genius a phantasm! 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT* 177 

' Clinton was a rare example of private virtue in a 
great public character. His life was unblemished by 
a spot on his honour, or a stain on his morals ! Does 
such a man require an eulogist? What combination 
of the subhme and beautiful can excel such a picture 
of a patriot citizen^ consecrated to the enduring admi- 
ration of posterity ? " 

From the United States Telegraph. 

At a meeting of the senators and representatives in 
congress from the state of New-York, held at the capi- 
tol, in Washington, February 19th, 1828, in conse- 
quence of the information of the death of his Excel- 
lency De Witt CUnton, governor of the state of New- 
York : 

General Van Rensselaer, of Albany, was called to 
the chair — Gulian C» Verplank, of the city of New- 
York, was appointed secretary. 

The Hon. Martin Van Buren, of the Senate, ad- 
dressed the meeting nearly in the following VTords : 

Mr. Chairman — We have met to pay a tribute of 
respect to the memory of our late governor and dis- 
tinguished fellow-citizen, De Witt Clinton. Some 
of our brethren have been so kind as to ask me to 
prepare a suitable expression of our feehngs ; and I 
have, in pursuance of their wishes, drawn up what 
has occurred to me as proper to be said on the occa- 
sion. Before I submit it to the consideration of the 
meeting, 1 beg to be indulged in a few brief remarke. 



178 EXPRESSIONS OF 

I can say nothing* of the deceased, that is not famiUar 
to you all. To all, he was personally known, and to 
many of us, intimately and familiarly, from our earli- 
est infancy. The high order of his talents, the untir- 
ing zeal and great success with which those talents 
have through a series of years been devoted to the 
prosecution of plans of great public utility, are also 
known to you all, and by all, I am satisfied, duly ap- 
preciated. The subject can derive no additional in- 
terest or im-portance from any eulogy of mine. All 
other considerations out of view, the single fact that 
the greatest public improvement of the age in which 
we live, was commenced under the guidance of his 
councils, and splendidly accomplished under his im- 
mediate auspices, is of itself sufficient to fill the ambi- 
tion of any man, and to give glory to any name. But, 
as has been justly said, his life, and character, and 
conduct, have become the property of the historian ; 
and there is no reason to doubt that history will do 
him justice. The triumph of his talents and patriot- 
ism, cannot fail to become monuments of high and 
enduring fame. We cannot, indeed, but remember, 
that in our public career, collisions of opinion and 
action, at once extensive, earnest, and enduring, have 
arisen between the deceased and many of us. For 
myself, sir, it gives me a deep felt, though melancholy 
satisfaction, to know, and more so, to be conscious, 
that the deceased also felt and acknowledged, that 
our political differences have been wholly free from 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 179 

that most venomous and corroding of all poisons — 
personal hatred. But, in other respects, it is now 
immaterial what was the character of those collisions. 
They have heen turned to nothing, and less than no- 
thing, by the event we deplore; and I doubt not that 
we will with one voice and one heart, yield to his 
memory the well-deserved tribute of our respect for 
his name, and our warmest gratitude for his great and 
signal services. For myself, sir, so strong, so sin- 
cere, and so engrossing, is that feeling, that I, who 
whilst livirg, never — no, never, envied him any thing, 
now that he has fallen, am greatly tempted to envy 
him his grave with its honours. 

Of this, the most afflicting of all bereavements, that 
has fallen on his wretched and desponding family, 
what shall I say. Nothing. Their grief is too sacred 
for description ; justice can alone be done to it by 
those deep and silent, but agonizing feehngs, which 
on their account pervade every bosom. 

Mr. Van Buren then submitted the following resolu- 
tions : 

The delegation from the state of New- York, to the 
Senate and House of Representatives of the Congress 
of the United vStates, having been informed of the 
sudden death of De Witt C'linton, late governor of 
that state, feel it due to the occasion, as well as to 
their own feelings, to unite with the people they rep- 
resent, in expressing their deep and sincere sorrow 
for a dispensation of providence, which has, in the 



180 EXPRESSIONS 0F 

midst of active usefulness, cut off from the service oi 
that state, whose proudest ornament he wras, a great 
man, who has won, and richly deserves, the reputa- 
tion of a distinguished pubhc benefactor. 

Sensibly impressed with respect for the memory of 
the illustrious dead, they will wear the usual badge of 
mourning for thirty days; and they request that a 
copy of these, their proceedings, be communicated to 
the family of the deceased, with an assurance of their 
condolence at the greatest bereavement that could 
have befallen them on this side of the grave. 

On motion of Mr. De GraiF, of Schenectady, the 
above was unanimously adopted, and the chairman 
and secretary empowered to communicate them to 
the widow and family of the deceased. 

jFVtyn the Charleston {S. C.) Mercury. 

South Carolina sympathizes with New- York in the 
great public calamity which she has sustained. — ■ 
It is an event, indeed, which cannot fail to excite deep 
emotions of regret in every portion of the union. In 
him, the state of New- York has lost her immediate 
friend and benefactor — the patron of education — the 
encourager of literature — and the gTeat author of her 
magnificent system of internal improvements. But, 
he was also an American — his fame and reputation 
belong to the whole United States, to which he con- 
tributed largely to give a standing and character 
abroad. His death is, indeed, a national loss — ngr 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. I8l 

will his name be forgotten, while probity, talent and 
public service are held in reverence among men, or 
while a vestige remains of the stupendous work 
which connects the waters of the Atlantic and Lake 
Erie. 

F^om the Easton (Maryland) Gazette. 
DEATH OF DE WITT CLINTON. 

The great New-York statesman — the leading 
advocate and master spirit of the stupendous improve- 
ments, and of the system of instruction adopted by 
that state, is no more ! — He transacted official busi- 
ness during the day, and wrote several letters during 
the evening of the 11th. At about 7 o'clock, whilst 
sitting conversing with two of his sons, his head sud- 
denly fell backwards, and he expired. A rupture of 
one of the large blood vessels, is supposed to have 
been the occasion. 

The legislature in session, adopted every demon- 
stration of respect usual upon such occasions. 

From the National (IVashington City) Journal. 

The loss is not only to New-York ; it is a national 
loss. Yet he is not lost, for he has left a rich reputa- 
tion behind him. The fame of our distinguished citi- 
zens constitutes the most precious of the materials of 
our national renown; and the fame of De Witt 
Clinton has already traversed all chmes; it is 
known as far as science and letters have shed their 



182 EXPRESSIONS OF 

lights on mankind; it will accompany the march of 
time to the latest ages, become brighter as it proceeds, 
from the accumulated tributes with which posterity 
will adorn it. It is a circumstance worthy of remark, 
that Governor Clinton had accepted the task of pro- 
nouncing an eulogy on the deceased Emmet. The 
appointed eulogiser now sleeps with the chosen sub- 
ject of his eulogy. Other orators must now pro- 
nounce the eulogies on both. The seat so lately oc^ 
cupied by Governor Clinton will for the present be 
filled by the lieutenant-governor ; but the space which 
he has long occupied in the eye of the nation, it will 
be long before another citizen of that great state — 
prolific as she is in greatness — can arise to fill. 

Prom the Richmond {Virginia) Enquirer. 

A great man has fallen in Israel ! — Tlie New- York 
papers are badged in mourning — the whole state is 
lamenting the death of one of her greatest citizens — 
one of the first men of his country, and an ornanient 
to this or any other age. The propriety of this eulo- 
gy will be immediately admitted, when we announce 
the death of De Witt Clinton. He was taken off 
in a moment, in the midst of his family, by a fit of 
apoplexy, or the bursting of a blood vessel at the 
heart. This blow will be deeply felt not only by 
New-York, but by the union and the world. How 
are the prospects of man disappointed by the visita- 
tions of providence I A man who was designated for 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. l83 

the first chair in the nation, is cut off in the very 
midst of his honours. But his name will go down to 
posterity full of honour — and his works are his monu- 
ment. So long as the waves of the Hudson continue 
to roll, so long will the grand canal remain to per- 
petuate the name of Clinton. 

From the New-Haven (^Conn.) Chronicle. 

Governor Clinton had no superior in America ; 
and we had fondly hoped that after Mr. Adams, he 
would have filled the highest office on earth. But he 
has gone. A nation mourns his loss. 

From the Boston {Mass.) Patriot and Gazette. 

We find in the New- York Telegraph of Friday, an 
appropriate notice of the sudden demise of Governor 
Clinton, one of the brightest scholars, civihans and 
statesmen of the age. His memory will be long and 
fondly cherished. He was emphatically a benefactor 
of mankind ; and his bold and untiring genius, as an 
advocate for internal improvements, has erected for 
him a monument that will endure for ages. 

From the Pittsfietd (Mass.) Argus. 

Mr. Clinton was without doubt one of the ablest 
statesmen and greatest men in our country. The 
state of New- York cannot boast of so distinguished a 
son — for while her canals shall continue to bear the 
products of the West to the Ocean, and Science and 
Patriotism has a worshipper, the name of De Witt 
Clinton will be immortal. 



184 EXPRESSIONS OF 

Prom the Baltimore {Maryland) Gazette. 

The New-York papers received yesterday morning, 
contain the melancholy intelligence of the sudden 
death of De Witt Clinton. We join sincerely in the 
feehng of grief which all the papers, of all parties, ex- 
press on this occasion. The services of most men 
who have risen to eminence have generally been con- 
fined to the circle in which they have moved. Not so 
with De Witt Clinton. When the wave of time shall 
have passed over and hidden the labours of his co- 
temporaries, the services which he has rendered will 
still exist a landmark above the waters. When the 
battles of Napoleon shall have been forgotten, the road ' 
of the Simplon will remain a monument to his memo- 
ry as eternal as the summit over which it passes : ^o 
when the noisy politics of the day shall be hushed in 
everlasting obscurity, the Great Canal, and the thou- 
sand means of internal communication of which it is 
becoming the example and prototype, will preserve 
the name of De Witt Clinton so long as the waters of 
the Hudson flow, and man trusts the produce of his 
labour to their bosom. 

From the Bellows^ Falls (Vermont) Intelligencer. 
DE WITT CLINTON. 

In the death of this man, in the fulness of his fame, 
and in the prime of his intellectual vigour, society has 
lost a useful and efficient member — and our country a 
bright and shining ornament. Among the number 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 185 

which disapproved of his pohtical course, we were 
never backward in awarding to him that just tribute 
which from a long hfe of pubhc services had justly 
become his due. 



Extract from a letter from a member of Congress, 
dated Washington, February 19. 

"When I first contemplated an answer to your let- 
ter, I did not anticipate so deeply interesting and sol- 
emn a topic as has been furnished us by a recent dis- 
pensation of providence. The death of Governor 
Clinton is an event calculated to arrest the pubhc 
attention and produce a pause in the current of our 
thoughts. The manner was impressive, and seemed 
a fitting exit for so great a man. It was proper that 
he should die the governor of a state for which he had 
done so much, whose gi-eat pubhc works he had lived 
to accomplish, and upon which his death has en- 
stamped more deeply the name of their illustrious 
projector and patron. A great man indeed has fallen. 
' He rests from his labours and his ^vorks,' which 
shall remain perpetual monuments of his fame and 
usefulness. He was a great scholar, a great states- 
man." 

From the Winchester {Virginia) RppvMican. 

At a special communication of Chnton Lodge No, 
139, held at Mason's Hall, Romney, Virginia, on the 



186 EXPRESSIONS OF 

26th day of February, A. D. 1828, A. L. 5828, the 
following proceedings were had. 

Having been informed of the death of De Witt 
Clinton, governor of the state of New- York, a bro- 
ther honoured for his devotion to the great principles 
of masonry, his brilliant talents, his private virtues, 
his patriotism and benevolence, — we the members of 
Chnton Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons No. 139, 
Romney, have convened for the purpose of expressing 
our unfeigned grief, occasioned by this dispensation 
of an all-wise providence. 

Resolved, therefore. That the members of this 
Lodge feel that our common country, our order, and 
the great cause of human improvement, have met with 
a heavy bereavement in the death of our most excel- 
lent and worthy brother, De Witt Clinton. 

Resolved^ That the members of this Lodge, (which 
received its name in honour of our deceased brother) 
as a testimony of their respect for his memory, will 
wear the usual badges of mourning for thirty days. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be for- 
warded by the Worshipful Master to the family of the 
deceased. 

On motion. Resolved, That the above resolutions 
be pubhshed. 

A copy — Teste, 

C, TAPSCOTT, Secretary, 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 187 

JFhrom the Baltimore {Maryland) Patriot 
GRAND ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER. 

The officers and members of the Grand Royal Arch 
Chapter of Maryland, will attend a special meeting; of 
said Chapter, to be held in the Maeonic Hall in this 
city, on the 21st inst. at seven o'clock, to take into 
consideration the measures proper to be adopted for a 
due expression of respect to the memory of De Witt 
Clinton, late General Grand High Priest of Royal 
Arch Masons in the United States of America. 

GRAND ROYAL ARCH CHAPTER OF THE DISTRICT OF 
COLUMBIA. 

It having pleased the Almighty to call away, sud- 
denly, from his career of usefulness and honour, in 
this life, our late Brother and Companion, his Excel- 
lency De Witt Clinton, Most Excellent General 
Grand High Priest of the General Grand Royal Arch 
Chapter of tlie United States, a bereavement which 
falls not less heavily on the Masonic Institution, of 
which he has been, throughout our land, for many 
years, the ornament and pride, than it does on his 
country at large; it is fit that the Grand Royal Arch 
Chapter of the District of Columbia, deeply partici- 
pating in the general sorrow, should obey the dictates 
of propriety and duty, as well as the impulses of feel- 
ing, by rendering to the memory of the illustrious de- 
ceased those tokens of respect and veneration due to 
his public station, and sanctioned by his private vir- 



188 EXPRESSIONS OB' 

tues. To this end, it is directed that a special coiivo- 
cation of the Grand Chapter of this District, take 
place at Mason's Hall, in the city of Washington, on 
Monday evening, the 25th inst. at 6 o'clock, of which 
the officers and members of the said Grand Chapter 
are requested to take notice ; and to which the subor- 
dinate chapters are requested to send deputations. 

From the United States {Penn.) Gazette. 

^o intimately connected was the late Governor 
Clinton with the various beneficial societies of a pub- 
hc and private nature in the state of New- York, that 
the papers of that state are crowded with notices of 
the proceedings, resolves, &c. to do honour to the dis- 
tinguished dead. The Grand Lodge of the state has 
resolved, that an oration, commemorative of the vir- 
tues and talents of the deceased, be pronounced, and 
a solemn service performed at the next annual com- 
munication. 

JFVom the Montreal (Canada) Spectator. 

We regret to notice the death of De Witt Clinton, 
the upright and learned governor of the state of New- 
York, an individual whose talents, interest, and enter- 
prise were directed to the advancement and prosperi- 
ty of the state over which he ruled. The Erie Canal, 
the sreat work which he recommended and with 
great opposition finally effected, will be an everlasting 
monument to his memory, and his death, we conceive 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 189 

will be equally felt by the whole union as by the state 
with which he was more immediately connected. 

We may add, that he was a generous friend to the 
Irish. The late Mr. Emmet, and others who were ex- 
patriated by the pohtical convulsions of their country, 
experienced in him, as we have heard, a noble pa- 
tronage. 

From the United States (Washington City) Telegraph. 

A great and shining light is extinguished. De 
Witt Clinton was emphatically a great man — firm, 
decided, manly, and upright. Nature gave him a 
powerful and capacious mind, and he embeUished it 
with all the graces of education. His imagination, 
brilliant and comprehensive, was guided by the sound- 
est judgment, and amidst the labours and cares of po- 
litical life, he found time to cultivate a classical and 
poetical taste. Whatever differences may exist with 
regard to his political career, there can be none as to 
his personal character. As a man, he was generous, 
upright and honourable, gentlemanly in his feelings, 
and affectionate in his friendship. Let political feel- 
ings rest in the grave — and let liim only be remember- 
ed as the great statesman, the accomplished scholar, 
and the honourable man. 

From the Harrisburgh (Penn) Intelligencer. 

Our latest papers from New-York, announce the 
death of De Witt Clinton, who died suddenly on 

R 



190 EXPRESSIONS OP 

Tuesday, the 12th instant, of an organic aflfection of 
the heart. When a fellow-being is removed from the 
common walks of this tran?*ilory life, the regrets of 
sympathy, or the tears of consanguinity are awaken- 
ed, but when a fellow-citizen is called off, who has 
occupied a distinguished place in the politics and 
civil history of his country, a more than common 
sensation is produced. The pohtician adverts to the 
important events with which his name has been con- 
nected, and the moralist makes an additional reflec- 
tion on the changing and uncertain character of 
worldly grandeur and ambition. As the ostensible 
patron of the great canal system of New-York, and as 
the opposing candidate of Mr. Madison in 1812 — the 
name of De Witt Clinton is familiar to every ear. — 
That he was a man of great and comprehensive mind, 
and talents of a very superior grade, is a point of al- 
most general admission. 

From the Providence {Rhode Island) Journal. 
DEATH OF GOVERNOR CLINTON. 

The death of this great man, for such he was, has 
thrown New-York into a state of gloom and despon- 
dency, never experienced since the lamented death of 
General Hamilton. Political friends and foes mingle 
together in grief, and forgetting his foibles, remember 
only the virtues of the illustrious man. The death of 
Governor Clinton will be severely felt by many as a 
national calamity. New-York has lost her most il- 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 191 

lustrious son, and in truth can her citizens say, a 
great man has fallen. 

From the Nashville (Tennessee) JVhig. 
GOVERNOR CLINTON. 

On Tuesday last the citizens of Nashville united 
m rendering an unfeigned tribute of respect to the 
memory of " the governor of the great and patriotic 
state of New- York." Notwithstanding the inclemen- 
cy of the weather, a masonic procession was formed 
on the public square, from whence it moved, accom- 
panied by a numerous body of citizens, to the presby- 
terian church, where an appropriate discourse was 
pronounced by Wrn. G.Hunt, Esq. Of the many 
who mingled their regrets on this melancholy occa- 
sion, for the unexpected death of Governor Clinton, 
we are persuaded that none experienced more poig- 
nant grief than did his distinguished friend General 
Andrew Jackson, who came down from the Hermit- 
age, through the rain, for the purpose of j.nning his 
fellow-citizens in the performance of this pamful duty. 

From the Boston (Mass ) Evering Bulletin. 

With sensations of profound sorrow, we announce 
the melancholy tidings that De Witt Clinton is no 
more I This great man expired at his residence in 
the city of Albany, on Monday evening last, so instan- 
taneously as to leave a doubt whether his death was 
occasioned by apoplexy or by a rupture of the heart. 



192 EXPRESSIONS OF 

When the fatal summons came, it found him in the 
bosom of his family, in conversation with his children. 
While sitting in his study, his head suddenly dropped 
forward, and life instantly became extinct. All at- 
tempts at resuscitation were unavailing. Thus pass- 
ed away a soul, whose energies have been long and 
ardently employed in the advancement of his country's 
prosperity and glory. 

At this juncture, the death of no individual what- 
ever could inflict a deeper calamity upon our com- 
mon country. The intelligence of this afflicting event, 
will foil like a thunderbolt upon the rising hopes of 
millions. Those hopes were concentred in him, 

AS THE ROCK UPON WHICH THE TEMPEST-DRIVEN 
DESTINIES OF OUR REPUBLIC MIGHT ONE DAY SECURELY 

REPOSE. To him we looked, as to a promised pal- 
ladium against the stabs which are daily thrust at our 
national reputation, amidst the conflicts of contend- 
ing factions : w^e rehed on this illustrious patriot and 
statesman, as the medium through which our present 
unhappy political dissensions might at length be re- 
conciled. But it is otherwise directed. And, though 
by this awful bluw, the fondest anticipations of those 
who feel f live to the future fate of our land are sud- 
denly crushed — though a cloud of gloomy despon- 
dency is thus tirrown over the fair prospects of a 
whole people — it behooves us patiently to submit. — 
The inscrutable mandate is not for mortals to ques- 
tion ! 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 193 

jFVom the Cincinnati {Ohio) Chronicle. 
CLINTON IS NO MORE. 

By a gentleman who has ju^.t reached our city, di- 
rect from New-York, the melancholy information has 
been received of the death of Governor Clinton, who 
expired suddenly in Albany, on the 11th inst. in the 
bosom of his family, having survived his attack but a 
few minutes. His native state, as well as the coun- 
try at large, have sustained a signal loss in the death 
of this distinguished individual. He was an eminent 
statesman, possessing very general inteUigence, unit- 
ed with that enterprise and moral energy of charac- 
ter, by which works of the greatest magnitude are 
achieved. Governor Chnton has done much for the 
state over which he has long presided with dignity, 
and with whose prosperity and glory his name is inti- 
mately and advantageously associated. His reputa- 
tion will outlive the prejudices of party, and his fame 
will go down to posterity, in connexion with the 
splendid Erie Canal, which has been executed under 
his administration, and chiefly through his influence. 
The importance of his public services to the cause of 
internal improvement cannot now be fully estimated, 
but will be more and more appreciated in the lapse 
of years. 

From the Georgia Journal. 
DE WITT CLINTON. 

It was unanimously resolved at a meeting of the 
bar, in the town of Macon, (Geo.) that the members 



194 EXPRESSIONS OF 

of the bar of Flint Circuit of the state of Georgia, and 
those attending from the adjoining circuit, do wear 
crape on the left arm during the present judicial riding 
through the several counties of the circuit, as a token 
of the deep regret which they feel for the death of De 
Witt Clinton, so distinguished a lawyer, statesman, 
philanthropist and philosopher, and so great a bene- 
factor of his country and mankind. 

firom the Knoxville {Tennessee) Register. 

Dandridge, 11th March, 5828. 

The members of this Lodge have heard, with feel- 
ings of deep regret, of the death of their illustrious 
friend and brother De Witt Clinton, late governor 
of New-York. In the death of this distinguished 
individual, society has sustained a loss not easily 
to be repaired, and Masonry one of the brightest orna- 
ments and most able and efficient patrons : There- 
fore, 

Resolved, That the members of this Lodge, as an 
evidence of their respect for the memory of their de- 
ceased brother, wear an appropriate badge of mourn- 
ing for the space of thirty days. 

Resolved, That the foregoing preamble and resolu- 
tion, be pubhshed in the newspapers printed in Knox- 
ville. 

The above is a literal extract from the minutes of 
Jefferson Lodge No. 52, at its regular communica- 
tion on the 1 1th March, A. L. 5828. 

JACOB P. CHASE, Secretary. 



I 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. i 95 

From the American {Mass.) Advocate. 

Most of our readers are already acquainted with 
the fact that Governor Clinton is no more. He died 
at his residence in Albany, on Monday evening of last 
week, of a rupture of the heart, at the age of 59 years. 
His funeral was attended on Thursday last, by the 
members of the legislature, civil and military officers, 
and a large concourse of citizens and strangers. De 
Witt Clinton was justly and universally esteemed for 
his private virtues as well as for his public usefulness; 
and his name will be enrolled on the brightest pages 
of the future history of our country. Altliough many 
did not approve of his political course, they will now 
be disposed to forget what they deemed his errors, 
and to cherish with grateful feelings the niemory of 
him who has done so much for the honour of his na- 
tive state, and for the benefit of our whole country. 

Washingtm, {D. C.) Feb. 25, 1828. 

At an extra meeting of the Grand Royal Arch Chap- 
ter of the District of Columbia, convened this day, by 
special order of the M. E. G. H. P. for the purpose of 
evincing its sorrow for the sudden and lamented de- 
cease of our late Brother and Companion, the M. E. 
General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Royal 
Arch Chapter of the United -States, De Witt Clin- 
ton, and of adopting measures to testify its profound 
respect for liis memory : on motion, the following 
preamble and resolutions were unanimously adopted : 



196 EXPRESSIONS OF 

Whereas it has pleased divine providence to re- 
move from among us our wortliy and most distin- 
guished Brother and Companion, De Witt Clinton, 
General Grand High Priest of the Royal Arch Ma- 
sons, which exalted station he had for many years 
filled with honour to himself and advantage to the 
whole Masonic Fraternity throughout the United 
States : And whereas the Grand Chapter of the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, deeply penetrated with the loss 
which the Masonic Institution in this country has sus- 
tained in the decease of so eminent a member, and so 
valuable an officer, are desirous of evincing the regard 
in which he was held by them : 

Resolved, unanimously, That the officers and mem- 
bers of this Grand Chapter will wear the usual badge 
of Royal Arch mourning, for the space of thirty days, 
as a testimonial of their veneration and respect for the 
memory of the deceased. 

Resolved, That the officers and members of the 
Chapters under the jurisdiction of this Grand Chap- 
ter, be requested, in like manner, to wear mourning 
for the same space of time, and to clothe their respec- 
tive chambers in suitable apparel. 

Resolved, That a public address, on the merits and 
character of the deceased, be pronounced by some 
worthy companion Royal Arch Mason, at as early a 
day as may be convenient ; and that a Masonic Pro- 
cession, to embrace all Companions and Brethren in 
the District, resident and sojourning, take place, uiv 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 197 

der the direction of this Grand Chapter, on the day of 
the address, and move from Mason's Hall to the 
place of its delivery. 

Resolved, That the Grand Council, the High Priests 
of the several subordinate Chapters, and the Grand 
Secretary, be a committee to make every necessary 
arrangement for the purposes above-mentioned. 

Resolved, That the Grand Secretary transmit a co- 
py of the foregoing resolutions to the General Grand 
Royal Arch Chapter, and to the family of the deceas- 
ed, and that the same be published in the papers of 
this city. 

Attest, EDWARD S. LEWIS, 

Grand Secretary. 

' OHIO. 

Exti-acts from an address of Caleb Attwater, Esq. of 

Circleville, Ohio. 
* "The pubhc services of De Witt Clinton have 
been worth miUions to the United States. During 
thirty years he has been a f dthful public servant. — 
We have seen him in the Assembly and Senate of 
New-York, an able and faithful legislator. We have 
seen him in the Court of Errors of New-York, an in- 
dependent, learned and accomplished jurist. We 
have seen him in the Senate of the United States, a 
senator, who did honour to his station, and was the 
early, intrepid and successful "Friend of Ohio."— 
For the last fifteen years he has employed his time 



198 EXPRESSIONS OP 

and his talents upon a work which will be gazed on 
with wonder by all succeeding generations. This 
work will be the pride and dehght of mankind, so long 
as human wisdom or pubHc pohcy have a monument 
remaining on the globe. The grand Chnton canal 
stretches from the Hudson to the lakes, rousing en- 
terprise and industry, and enriching the people. Its 
waters are covered with the productions of every 
chme and every soil, building up cities, towns and 
villages, and multiplying all the enjoyments of civilized 
life. Its vast advantages no mind can estimate. — 
They affect the destinies of the whole union, and their 
value increases every day, and will increase so long 
as this nation exists. 

" Ohio has lost her oldest, her ablest and best friend. 
She owes it to him, to his aid and influence in Con- 
gress, that she was admitted into the union loheii she 
was. It was objected by several influential members 
of Congress: 'that Ohio was too young in years and 
too feeble in numbers, to be thus admitted into the 
confederacy.' To which Mr. Clinton rephed, 'that 
her mild chmate, her fruitful soil, her great natural ad- 
vantages and the absence of domestic slavery, would 
one day render her the brightest star in the constella- 
tion of the union.' 

"To his successful example, to his animating voice, 
Ohio is indebted for her grand canal. It was his aid 
and influence which procured us funds, to enable us 
to carry on this grand work. He made a long and 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. l99 

tedious journey to be present at its commencement. 
Had he lived, arrangements were made for his being 
present at its completion. But alas ! He has been 
called off from his labours by our Grand High Priest 
above, to refreshment. No more shall he visit our 
Lodge, as he did when in this town — no more sbali 
bis voice be heard among us, because the Grand Ty- 
ler, death, bas admitted him into the door of the Grand 
Lodge above, at the command of our Almighty Grand 
Master." 

VERMONT. 

At a regular communication of Mount Calvary En- 
campment, in Middlebury, Vermont, the following pre- 
amble and resolutions were unanimously adopted. 

The Grand Master of our General Encampment 
has suddenly been removed by death! De Witt 
Clinton, whose pohtical fame will remain while ca- 
nals and rocks exist, is now numbered with the illus- 
trious dead . Whatever the private life of Clinton may 
have been, his public acts placed him in the rank with 
the first of pubUc benefactors. His loss is deeply 
and sensibly felt by an immense comnmnity. His 
opposers acknowledged him great — ^his friends knew 
him to be such. Yet great as he was, he could not 
resist the commanding influence of truth^ nor gainsay 
divine revelation. He yielded to its impulse, and bow- 
ed humbly at the Cross of Christ ; and his name will 
ever remain enrolled among those weary way-worn 



200 EXPRESSIONS OP 

pilgrims, who have espoused the cause of the Chris- 
tian rehgion " In hoc signo vinces^^'' was his motto. — 
Guided by these principles, he was eariy found a pa- 
tron of freemasonry, of learning, of Bible societies, of 
Sabbath schools, and of other moral and rehgious in- 
stitutions. By his death we are forcibly reminded 
that in the midst of life we are in death ; and that 
whatever elevation of character we may have attained, 
yet shortly must we all submit as victims of its de- 
stroying power, and endure the humbhng level of the 
tomb. On an occasion of so much magnitude as the 
present, it is laudable to mingle our sympathies with 
those more immediately bereft — ^therefore, 

Resolved, That this Encampment consider the late 
dispensation of divine providence in the removal of 
their late General Grand Master, De Witt Chnton, by 
death, as an event deeply afflicting to the public, and 
especially so to the masonic institution. 

Resolved, That the jewels and furniture of Mount 
Calvary Encampment be clad in mourning, and that 
the members thereof wear the appropriate badge of 
mourning during their convocations, until the session 
of the next Grand Encampment. 

GEORGIA. 

Masonic Hall., Milledgeville^ March 1 . 
The afflicting intelligence having reached us, through 
the medium of the papers, of the sudden death of our 
estimable brother, De Witt Clinton, the brethren of 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 201 

the several lodges of freemasons in this place, assem- 
bled on Saturday, the 1st of March instant, at their 
Hall, and appointed a committee to take suitable mea- 
sures to manifest their sincere regret at his loss; 
which committee reported the following preamble and 
resolutions, which were unanimously adopted : 

Whereas it has pleased the Supreme Ruler of the 
Universe, to take to himself our worthy and highly 
cherished brother, De Witt Clinton, by which divine 
dispensation the masonic fraternity is deprived of its 
respected chief, and the nation of a highly distinguish- 
ed statesman and a patriot — while his native state is 
plunged in sorrow for his loss, we may be permitted 
to commingle our tears with those that water his 
tomb. Although far removed from the immediate 
masonic circle in which he was wont to preside, yet, 
as members of the great masonic family, we have 
viewed with pride the expanding usefulness of our 
gifted brother. We revered his exalted character 
while living ; we cherish his memory and mourn his 
loss now that he is no more. 

Be it therefore resolved. That the jewels and columns 
of the Chapter and the several Lodges of this place, 
be shrouded in mourning for sixty days; and that the 
brethren do wear crape on the left arm for the same 
period. 

Resolved, That a brother be designated to pro- 
pronounce his eulogy on the ensuing anniversary of 

St. John's, 24th June next. 

s 



202 EXPRESSIONS OF ' 

FYom. the National ( Washington City) Intelligencer. 

The masonic ceremonies which took place in thib 
city, on Saturday, in honour of the memory of the late 
Governor Chnton, were amongst the most imposing 
and solemn which we ever witnessed. The Frater- 
nity of the District were joined by the Grand Chapter 
of Maryland, and the procession which they compos- 
ed, amounting, perhaps, to four hundred, w^as not only 
the most numerous, but in its general appearance, the 
most respectable and impressive, which has ever been 
exhibited in this city. The varied and rich clothing 
of the different orders ; the intermixture of the mourn- 
ing appendages ; the solemn strains of two bands of 
music; the orderly and becoming movement of the 
long line — combined to give a dignity and solemnity 
to the scene, highly creditable and appropriate. The 
public services of tl^e. occasion took place at St. 
John's Church. 

The following Ode was sung : 

Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb, 

Take a new treasure to thy trust. 
And give his sacred relics room 

To slumber in the silent dust. 

Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear, 

Invade Ihy bounds; no mortal woes 
Can reach the silent sleepers there. 

And Angels watch their soft repose 



PUBLIC SENTIMENT. 203 

80 Jesus slept: God's dying Son 

Pass'd through the grave, and bless'd the bed: 
Rest, rest, dear saint, till from His throne 

The morning break, and pierce the shade. 

Break from His throne, illustrious morn! 

Attend, O! Earth, His sovereign word! 
Restore thy trust, a glorious form, — 

He must ascend to meet his Lord. 

Samuel L. Knapp, Esq. a member of the Fraternity, 
then rose, and delivered an address, of consideraWe 
length, on the life and character of the deceased ; as 
honourable to the talents of the orator, as it was to 
the memory of the eminent citizen whose merits were 
its theme. We hstened to the whole discourse with 
unmingled satisfaction, and frequently with those sen- 
sations of deUght, which only deep pathos and true 
eloquence can call forth. * * *t * "| 

The oration of Mr. Knapp bore testimony to his 
industry. He seems to have assiduously availed 
himself of the short period allowed him, to collect a 
great deal of interesting biographical materials rela- 
tive to Mr. Clinton ; and, using the lens of fancy with 
much taste and felicity, he threw, here and there, a 
poetical ray of much beauty and brightness. 

The newspapers from New-Orleans, (Louisania,) 
and from Nashville, (Tennessee,) as well as those 
from the state of Ohio, were dressed in mourning, in 
noticing the death of De Witt Chnton. 



204 EXPRESSIONS OF, &LC, 

General Andrew Jackson's toast, at a public 
dinner, given in Tennessee, on his birth-day, on the 
15th March, 1828. 

The memory of Be Witt Clinton — The patriot, the 
philanthropist, and the distinguished statesman; in 
his death. New- York has lost one of her most useful 
sons, and the nation one of its brightest ornaments. 

"NOW, DE WITT CLINTON REPOSES IN 
THE MIDST OF THE CREATIONS OF HIS 
SCIENTIFIC MIND— and in after ages, when the 
stranger shall seek his grave, he will find upon it the 
same simple, but eloquent inscription, which graces 
the monument of the archiTect of St. Pauls, in London, 
'IF YOU SEEK MY MONUMENT, LOOK 
AROUND.'" 



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